Equality
by renagirl9
Summary: Rose Weasley, Scorpius Malfoy, Celia Nott, Lisa Goyle, and Eric Avery are the best of friends in a world that despises familes of death eaters. Watch as they confront predujuce, challenge old ideas, and basically set the wizarding world on its ear. R/S
1. September 1st, 2017: Express and Sorting

**A/N: I know this is another new story and i still haven't finished any of my works in progress, but it wouldn't leave my head. I've written a lot of it so far and I really want a good beta reader so tell me if you want the job. Please! Review and tell me if you like it. And this story will replace Becoming Mrs. Malfoy. I had originally intended for it to be a prequel/prolougue to it, but it got out of hand. So Equality will replace it. **

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Disclaimer: I don't ownharry potter or any characters but my OCs: Celia, Eric, and Lisa. And any others I come up with. Everything else is J.K. Rowlings.

_Rose Weasley never quite did as was expected. Friends with Scorpius Malfoy, Celia Nott, Lisa Goyle, and Eric Avery, she was a supporter of equal rights- for everyone. Even the families of former death eaters. Even though it meant going against her family to do it. She wanted equality- and she was going to get it._

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**Equality – Chapter 1**

**September 1****st****, 2017: Hogwarts Express**

An 11-year-old Rose Weasley stumbled into a compartment, tripped over some bags, and landed flat on her face. Not the best way to start my first year at Hogwarts, she thought. She blushed even harder when she heard the giggles. She just wanted to curl up and die. She might have even done it, if it had not been for the hand someone offered.

"Do you need some help?" The young blond boy asked.

Still blushing, Rose took the hand. When she got to her feet, she said, "Thanks. I'll just be going now…" But as she turned to leave, a girl spoke up, "You don't have to leave, you know." The girl glanced at the others in the compartment, who nodded in confirmation. "We still have room in here, and it isn't likely you'll find another compartment that isn't full."

"All right," Rose knew that the girl was right. Ever since she had decided not to sit with her annoying cousins, she had searched all over the train. She decided that these were nice enough people and sat down in one of the remaining seats.

"Do you want to play exploding snap?" The blond boy who had helped her up asked.

"Of course! I'm the best at exploding snap in my family." Rose bragged.

"Really?" The boy smiled. "So am I."

The game that followed surely went down in history as one of the best Exploding Snap games ever. Neither one of the players wanted to give up so the game only ended when all of the cards were destroyed and everyone's eyebrows had been burned off.

"You're really good." Rose admitted. "Unfortunately, we all look like eyebrow-less freaks."

"I can fix that." A tall boy with dark brown hair said. "I've played against Scorpius here enough times that I know the charm." He drew out his wand and tapped it on Rose's forehead. "You're eyebrows are now back to normal. I'm Eric Avery." He then went around the compartment, restoring everyone else's eyebrows.

"I'm Lisa Goyle," The girl who had invited her to stay introduced herself. Lisa had long dark hair, with bangs that cut across her forehead. She was a chubby girl, but not fat.

"I'm Celia Nott." A girl with a platinum blond hair said.

"And I'm Scorpius Malfoy." The blond boy smiled at her.

Rose was shocked. Goyle, Avery, Nott, _Malfoy_. The names kept repeating in her head. She could hear the words of her father, '_Rosie, there are going to be some people at Hogwarts that I don't ever want you to be friends with or even talk to,' he had said, making sure Hermione couldn't hear him. 'The Goyle kid, the Nott kid, the Avery kid, and _especially_ the Malfoy kid. Do you understand?' _She tried to reconcile all of the things she had heard about their families, about how they were all horrible people, with the friendly faces that lay before her. It made no sense.

At the moment, those friendly faces were looking at her funny. I wonder why, she thought before realizing that, _duh_, they wanted her to introduce herself.

"I'm Rose Weasley." She said, trying not to let the shock show through. With that simple introduction, their confusion was quickly replaced with shock of their own. No doubt, they were also trying to figure out how the nice girl they had met was a Weasley, a family they had probably heard terrible things about all their lives.

"Well that explains it." Eric Avery said.

"What? What does it explain?" Rose asked, confused.

"It explains why you were staring into space for five minutes after we introduced ourselves." Celia Nott giggled a bit. So that's who laughed when I fell, Rose thought.

"Was I? Sorry about that." She shrugged. "It was a bit surprising, you know. My dad has been telling horror stories about your families to me for years."

"And how do we compare?" Eric asked, "I'd hate not to live up to these expectations."

"You're not at all like he said you'd be. I was expecting heartless bullies who stole candy from babies and kicked at puppies." Rose laughed.

"Well, I don't think we do any of those things, but I could always steal your candy…" Scorpius laughed, reaching for her chocolate frogs.

"No way!" She laughed grabbing the candy away from him. "So how do I compare with your stories about the Weasley family?"

"I was expecting a bunch of selfish, fame seeking, red heads." Eric shrugged. "My mom was always mad at your dad for arresting my dad eight years after he ran away when he lost the war. I had just been born then so I don't even remember him. I don't want too."

"My dad said that you were a bunch of harpies in disguise." Celia said. "And he said to watch out for bats. He's crazy though so I really don't care at all what he thinks. I'm going all the way to the top and when I get old enough, I'll be Minister of Magic. I need to get along with everyone, so I've always ignored his prejudices."

"My dad told me that you were all insane, stupid, and that you always stuck together. Wrong on all accounts as always." Lisa smiled at Rose.

"My dad didn't say anything about your family." Scorpius said. Rose stared at him in disbelief. How could the Malfoys not have anything bad to say about the Weasleys?

"Honestly!" Scorpius protested, as the others also stared. "All he ever said was that I shouldn't take it to heart if any of the Weasleys was mean to me."

"Really? My dad said that the Malfoys and the Weasleys hated each other." Rose was still confused.

"Guess it's a one-sided feud now." Scorpius shrugged and left it at that.

"So now that you know who we are, are you going to leave?" Celia asked the question that was on all of their minds.

"Do you want me too?" Rose was pretty sure they didn't but she had to be sure.

"No." Lisa looked to make sure everyone else agreed. "We think you're perfectly nice."

"Well then, I guess I'll stay." Rose answered smiling. She looked around at the others, knowing that this was the start of a wonderful friendship.

**September 1****st****, 2017: Sorting Ceremony**

Rose looked around the great hall, trying to catch her new friends' eyes. They had been lined up in alphabetical order, which meant that Eric was at the front and she was at the end. She hated having a last name that began with W, although she probably wouldn't want to have it start with A as she would always have to go first. She'd prefer to have a last name that started with a letter in the middle, like M…

That line of thought was immediately cut off as the sorting hat finished its song and started sorting. It wasn't long until "Avery, Eric!" was called. She gave Eric a faint reassuring smile before the hat slipped over his head.

_Ah, an Avery, _the hat said, _I never thought I'd see another one. I guess you're the first then._

'The first what?' Eric asked silently.

_The first child of a former death eater to come to Hogwarts, of course. I hope you're ready for it. _

'I maybe the first,' Eric told the hat, 'but I'm not the only one.'

_But the Nott and Goyle girls are only the granddaughters of Death Eaters. _

'What about Scorpius?'

_Draco Malfoy was forced to serve. It won't matter to most, but truly you are the only child of a willingly serving Death Eater._

"What does any of this matter in my sorting?' Eric demanded, getting fed up with the questions. 'I never even knew my father and I don't want too!'

_I know. I was just making sure you knew. I see many things in you Avery, but none of it is like your father. I see ambition and cunning, but you truly care about others. Slytherin is not the place for you._

Eric visibly relaxed.

_But I see that you already knew that. You are not the bold type, so Gryffindor is out. And your sarcastic manner and impatience would never fit in with the Hufflepuffs. As I know you already thought you are a…_

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted. Rose smiled at her friend as he pulled the hat off, not even caring about the lack of enthusiasm the Ravenclaws were showing.

It was not long before another one of Rose's friends was called – Lisa Goyle. Rose watched the friendly girl as the hat dropped over her head.

_I never thought I'd see a Goyle who could remember her name. You are much smarter than you're father. _

'I'm not that smart.' Lisa blushed.

_You are a timid little thing. And friendly too. Amazing. What made you this different from your family of brutish thugs?_

'You don't want to know.' Lisa muttered. Intrigued, the hat searched through her memories to find the answer.

_Oh. My dear. You will need all the support and love there is in…_

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Rose wasn't even surprised at this. Hufflepuff was obviously where shy but friendly Lisa belonged.

Soon enough, "Malfoy, Scorpius!" was called out. There was an instant hush over the Hall. The Malfoys was one of the most well known death eater families and their feud with the Weasleys was common knowledge. With every Weasley in the Hall except Rose glaring at him, Scorpius gulped. Then the world went black as the hat covered his eyes.

_Welcome to Hogwarts, young Malfoy. You do know that if you get your wish, it will get even worse._

'I know.'

_And you still want to do it? Boy, you could be a Gryffindor!_

'I don't think I'd quite fit.' Scorpius thought of the glares the Gryffindors were no doubt still giving him.

_I suppose you're right about that. You actually think before you act. So I guess you'll get your wish and be in…_

"RAVENCLAW!"

Silence. No one clapped no one. He saw Rose start to, but then he shook his head. Didn't want her family to kill her or anything.

Once he was seated next to Eric, the ceremony started again. After a few minutes, "Nott, Celia!" was called up.

_You're an easy one to sort. It's all there, ambition, cunning, everything. And you want it too._

'Obviously.'

_I will warn you though; being in Slytherin will not help you reach your goal. In fact, in recent times, it might hinder you. _

'I know. But I do love a challenge.'

_All right. You are a…_

"Slytherin!"

The students looked relieved that finally, someone was put where they were expected. Rose smiled, knowing that Slytherin was actually, where Celia wanted to go.

Before she knew it, "Weasley, Rose!" was called and the hat slipped over her eyes.

_You have a choice to make._

'Do I?'

_Yes. You have four very unlikely friends in three different houses. Your family, where you are expected to go is in Gryffindor. Where will you choose?_

'Does it matter? You'll put me where you see fit.'

_Ah, but I can't. You have qualities of all four houses. It comes down to you._

'I think it's very irresponsible of you to leave a choice like this to an 11-year-old.'

_Well, that get's rid of Slytherin. A Slytherin would have exploited that. Tell me, Rose Weasley, what do you think of they way the world treats your friends?_

'Why?'

_Just answer!_

'I think it's horribly unfair. They judge them before they even meet them.'

_You are so like your mother. I've narrowed it down to Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. Which do you want?_

'I don't know!'

_What would you do if someone was insulting one of your friends?_

'Confront them, of course!'

_Ah, now the choice is clear. E prepared for a lot of insults about your friends in…_

"Gryffindor!"


	2. September 1st, 2017: Ravenclaw Tower

**A/N: This is a shorter chapter than the last on because I wanted to get something out. I need to be clear on few things. **

**1) This story is going to skip around a lot. I'm doing a lot on this one particular day because it's their first so it's important. Normally I will go from first year to third, Christmas to summer, 11 to 15. It'll slow down once i get to the age i want them to be. So for the next chapter i want to do after these common room scenes are done is after Christmas break. after that it'll be the last day of the school year. If you have something in particular you want to see tell me in a review and it might happen. **

**2) I still need a beta for it. If you want the job you've got it. Please ask me! I need one! **

**3) Tell me if these chapters are any good. I'm not sure.**

**4) Disclaimer: I AM NOT J.K. ROWLING, SO _DUH_, I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER!**

**September 1****st****, 2017: Ravenclaw common room**

"This is the common room for Ravenclaw." The prefect boy informed the first-years, Scorpius and Eric among them. "This space can be used by anyone of us Ravenclaws. As you have just noticed, unlike other, less intellectual houses, we require a riddle to be solved to gain access. None of that easy password stuff here. In the common room, you can study, read, do homework, or converse with your peers. But you must do it _quietly_." The prefect droned on and on, causing Eric to roll his eyes. "There will be no rough housing, no fighting and absolutely no pranks!"

Leaning over to Scorpius, Eric whispered, "That's one rule I know I won't be following."

Scorpius struggled to hold back laughter but snapped back to attention when another prefect, a tall black haired girl rushed down the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"Peter, are you boring the first years to death again?" The girl scolded. "I thought we had a word about that."

"Carey, I wasn't boring them to death. I was informing them of the rules." Peter protested.

"So, in other words, you were boring them to death." Carey teased. Turning her attention to the first years, "I am sorry for subjecting you lot to Peter. I was supposed to handle orientation this year, but I had to attend to some other matters first." Looking back at Peter, she said, "I can take it from now." Peter huffed then stormed up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.

"Okay, new kids!" Carey clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "I hope Peter didn't give you the impression that all Ravenclaws are like that, because we're not. We joke around as much as any other house, except that we require our jokes to be politically correct."

"I think I like her," Scorpius whispered to Eric.

"Same here mate." Eric agreed.

"Unfortunately, the rules that Peter gave you are one hundred percent real." Carey continued. "I wish it weren't so, but it is. So if I see anyone breaking the rules, I may be forced to give them detention."

"Now I am here to help you with anything you lot need. Just approach me and ask. As I prefer a personal touch, I'll let you know a bit about me. My name is Carey Collins, and I am in sixth year. I like to write stories and I enjoy walking by the lake. And to all you, young men out there, yes, I do have a boyfriend." There were a number of audible sighs, Scorpius's among them. "His name is Carl and he's a Gryffindorprefect. Peter over there is also in my year. There are two other fifth year prefects, Marne Maled and Craig Gleeson. They're on patrol now. Talk to me or the others if you have a problem." Carey finished her speech, and directed them to their dorms.

After climbing two flights of stairs, Scorpius and Eric found they were in the same dorm with three other boys. Sean Lake, Will Dolan, and Tim Cong.

When they opened the door, they found that the other boys were already there.

"Hello. I'm Scorpius." He introduced himself. "That's Eric."

"I know." Will said it as if he was accusing them of something. "The likes of you shouldn't be here." Will spat on the ground.

Scorpius just stared. He had known this might happen, he had _expected _it. However, he had never actually dealt directly with the hatred against his family. His parents had kept him sheltered. They had not kept it a secret, certainly, but this was the first time he had to face it.

Thankfully, Eric _had _dealt with it before; else, the staring match might have lasted all night. Pulling Scorpius out of the way, he glared back at Will, and then at the other two. They weren't saying anything, but neither were they helping. "You lot listen and listen good. I don't care about your prejudice about my family or Scorpius's. It's simple minded and petty. We aren't our parents, obviously, and we have no hatred of any of you. Yet. Do not give me a reason to hate you." Eric said his voice firm.

"Is that a threat?" Will's voice was a bit shaky now.

"Do you want it to be?" Eric smirked at the boy, and then faced the other two. "Take that as a warning."

Then, as if nothing had happened, he strode over to his bed and prepared to sleep.


	3. September 1st, 2017: Hufflepuff Area

**A/N: I have rewritten this chapter and added some more to the end. I've also decided to make this fight for equality not all about the death eater childern. Because honestly, there aren't that many of them. The story will now invlove other creatures fight for equality. If you look really carefully at this chapter you might be able to tell one of the new fights for equalitys subjects. The story will still revolve around Scorpius, Rose, Lisa, Celia, and Eric - i'll just add some more minor characters. send in ideas for people who need equality - veela, mermaids, giant, squibs, etc. and how i could introduce them ino the story. And i still need a BETA!**

**Hufflepuff Common Room**

Lisa entered the warm, yellow and black common room hesitantly. While the other Hufflepuffs hadn't been directly rude to her, they certainly hadn't been nice. She understood why the hat put her in Hufflepuff – she had had a feeling she would be in there, even without… Well, anyway, she simply didn't fit elsewhere. But no one would talk to her, or even look at her! She was glad she wasn't being stared at, but still! Being ignored was making her even more shy… she hated when that happened.

Thankfully, she was distracted from her thoughts, at least for a moment, when the black-haired prefect with the deep voice yelled, "First years! Come on over here! We need to explain some things to you."

She went over to the couches and chairs gathered around the fire, where the prefect was standing, along with the other first years. Taking a seat in a chair toward the back, as she knew no one would wish to share a couch with her, she looked attentively at the prefect.

"Hello, all and welcome to Hufflepuff! My name is Cedric Chang and I'm the sixth year prefect for Hufflepuff. You first years can come to me, or any other prefect, with any of your problems. Now that we've got that out of the way, lets discuss what makes a Hufflepuff."

Cedric smiled at them, "A Hufflepuff is patient, kind, just and friendly. We do not judge people before we meet them," he said this looking at the people around Lisa. "We know that good things happen to those who wait. We do not rush in like Gryffindors or manipulate behind the scenes like Slytherins. We work hard to receive what we get. These are the things that set us apart from the other houses. They may think down on us because we are not sly, a know-it-all, or a brave fool, but we know that at the very least we are their equals. Come to us with anything they may say, because us badgers stick together." Cedric finished his speech and another prefect, a girl, showed them to their rooms.

As they walked to the rooms, Lisa thought on the speech, and wondered if any of it applied to her. Because so far, no one had treated her as a fellow 'Puff.

She was the first in the room she was to share with five other girls. She sighed with relief – at least now she would be able to sleep and escape from the silence and the stares for at least a few hours. Going over to the bed where her suitcase was placed, she changed into her nightgown and closed the curtains around her.

She expected to fall asleep right away. I had been a long day and even with the stares, she had dealt with far worse. However, she found she was still wide-awake, surprising as sleep was her way to escape when her father…

The door slammed open, interrupting her thoughts. The other five girls entered the room, giggling and gossiping. As they were acting normal, Lisa guessed they hadn't yet realized that she was in their room.

Just as she thought that, a girl said, "Oh. I guess we have that _girl_ in our room."

"Don't be mean, Marcy. She could hear and get mad at us. I don't want to get cursed." Another softer voice piped up.

"She's asleep. She can't hear us, Anna." The voice of Marcy told the other girl. "I doubt she'd care what we think either. Did you see her? She wasn't talking to any of us, probably thinking she was better than us."

"Ha!" Another girl laughed. "Like any death eater spawn is better than us."

"Still, Vivy, she probably thinks that. I've heard her dad was so stupid that he couldn't spell his own name!" Marcy laughed with Vivy.

"I'm scared, sleeping in the same room as a death eater's kid. What if she tries to murder us in our sleep?" A timid voice said.

"Quite right, Hannah." The voice of Anna agreed. "We should request a room change. Death eater spawn are worse than animals. They're like dark creatures. No morals or restraint or anything."

"Oh, shut up, you lot." A new voice demanded. "She's a person like you. What does it matter who her parents were? She didn't pick it. You can't pick what happens to you." The voice got quieter as she went on.

"Alex, you're muggleborn. What do you know?" Vivy asked.

"I was raised in a wizarding orphanage for your information. I know plenty. And I know enough to know what you're saying is stupid." Alex's voice was defensive.

"Still, you didn't have any family killed by death eaters. My granddad was killed by a werewolf on their side. So you just watch what you say, Miss Alexis Smith. And if you want _any_ friends in here, don't talk about her being like us again." Vivy warned. "Now I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we can see about this death eater spawn problem."

The voice stopped and Lisa felt tears streaming down her cheeks. The situation was just what she expected but it still hurt. To be hated because of who she was, for something that she had no control over, was terrible. Only one person had spoken up for her, this Alexis Smith, and Lisa felt that after Vivy's warning she wouldn't do it again. Crying herself to sleep, she wished for a better tomorrow.

**A/N: Do you like Alexis? She's going to be important. And I wonder if anyone can guess Lisa's secret...**


	4. AN

**A/N: This is just an A/N chapter. I'm working on the next chapter but I'm having a little trouble. It's Celia and the Slytherins next and I'm introducing two new characters – twin prefects who are still in love with the 'old ways'. Their last name is Parkinson – distant relations of Pansy. Their family lived around where Durmstrang is during the war, so they still are rich and well off. They are a boy and a girl who rule all of Slytherin. And I need names for them. And the names have to sound Romanian or Bulgarian or something like that. Also IMPORTANT! I changed the end of the last chapter but I don't think many of you knew that. Check it ot1 you'll be lost if you don't!**


	5. September 1st, 2017: Slytherin Dungeon

**Slytherin Common Room- September 1****st**** 2017**

Celia Nott glanced around the silver and green of the Slytherin Common Room. The light was eerie, probably because Slytherin was located under the lake. The furniture was not at all comfy looking and while there was a fire, there was a chill in the room.

However, the room was different from her father's descriptions. Small changes, almost unnoticeable, had taken place. The wizarding family tree was gone and so were a number of books from an intricate bookshelf. There certainly weren't as many skulls as her father had claimed, though whether that was because of error on his part or actual removal of skulls was unclear. Celia filed all of the details in her head for further examination later, and then turned her attention to the prefect, who was speaking at the front of the room.

"Velcome to the ancient and powerful house of Slytherin. For some reason, the Sorting Hat has seen fit to place you in this house, the best of them all." The prefect said with a sneer across his pug-like face. "Vhy? I do not know. It must have seen some trace of the qualities that make a Slytherin in you, somehow. These qualities are, as you must know, cunning, ambition, and one other. However, that one other quality is being frowned upon in our current political situation," His expression showed that he was clearly unhappy with the fact, "so I vill not be discussing it. A Slytherin is ambitious and uses his or her cunning to get vot they vant. Ve stop at nothing. Ve are the best house, and others hate us for it. They are jealous of us and our greatness and use things of the past to justify their hatred. Ve do not acknowledge them. If either I or my sister, the other sixth year prefect hear of any transgression that will give others reason to justify their hatred, Ve vill … express…our displeasure." He smirked. "Remember this, a Slytherin does vottever it takes – and does not get caught. You are dismissed." The prefect walked over to his sister, who also looked like a pug, and started whispering. The other first year Slytherins started to walk toward the dormitories. Celia started to do the same – but no, too late – the two prefects were walking toward her.

Celia considered pretending not to have seen their approach and continuing on her way, but she had been taught to respect authority figures because as her father said, 'You never know when you'll need a favor from a higher up.'

"You are Celia Nott, correct?" The prefect asked.

"Yes." Celia said, already disliking them.

"Come." The boy said beckoning her to follow him to a chair, "Ve vould like to speak with you."

Celia followed the boy to a chair, where his sister was already sitting.

"I am Vadim Parkinson and this is my sister Viola. You must know of us." The boy, Vadim, said confidently.

Unfortunately, Celia did know about them. Her father was not the pureblood fanatic he had been before, but he still kept in touch with the people who were. So she knew all about these Parkinsons. They were related to the Pansy Parkinson who had went to school with her father and their family had come from Romania or Bulgaria or somewhere near Durmstrang. They moved after the war, so they still were rich and powerful, even though no one liked them.

"I have heard of you, yes." She replied, not mentioning that none of it had been good.

"Ve trust that you still practice the old vays." Viola said. A statement, not a question.

"You vill find that not everyone here does, even in this most pure house of Slytherin. You vould do vell to distance yourself from them." Vadim continued without giving Celia time to reply.

"Ve can make your life here so much better. Ve can help you accomplish greatness. Ve can teach you things, secret, powerful things." Viola whispered.

"Vith us, you can show those lesser vizards and vitches that you are better than them." Vadim urged.

Celia couldn't take it anymore. It was people like this that gave people like her a bad reputation. "No, I'm afraid I don't quite practice 'the old ways'. Frankly, I don't care too. So I would appreciate it if you left me out of it." She said icily, knowing even though the words were perfectly polite, that her reply would be taken as an insult. She got up from her seat and strode quickly – never running to her dorm. As she left she noticed that some of the other first year slythrins had witnessed her converstion with the Parkinsons.

As luck would have it, those witnesses wound up in her dorm.

"That was an idiotic thing to do." A tall dark haired girl entered the room, followed by two others.

"Why is that?" Celia asked the girl.

"Because those twins are going to make your life miserable. By the way, I'm Tanisha."

"I'm Cel…"

"We know who you are." Tanisha interrupted.

"I can take anything they dish out. I've had plenty of practice." Celia smirked.

"I don't think you quite get it. They practically run Slytherin. You're dead. Simple as that. No one will talk to you." Tanisha sat down on the bed across from Celia's.

"You're talking to me."

"But that's because they haven't had time to make it taboo yet. They will though."

"I don't care."

"You should. They have a lot of influence. Even though no one really likes them." Another girl spoke up. "I'm Alisa."

"Have you ever thought that if you didn't listen to them, they'd have no influence?" Celia suggested.

"Plenty of times." The last girl replied, kicking off her shoes.

"Why do you listen then?" She asked, not expecting that answer.

"It's obvious isn't it? Not listening would work, but only if everyone else did the same. Slytherins don't often work together. And I'm Tabitha, but if you want to live, call me Tabby."

"You shouldn't have turned them down. They never invite anyone into their inner circle." Tanisha insisted.

"What else was I supposed to do? Lie? Tell them I believe all their crap?" Celia asked, throwing her hands in the air.

"If I had lied, I would have gotten tangled in a huge web of lies or else it would have become true. I couldn't do that. Besides, their influence only extends over certain parts of society." Celia continued. "They don't matter in the rest of the school. They don't have any hold over the Ministry."

Tanisha snorted. "You must be crazy. You're 'death eater spawn'. You're not going to be allowed anywhere near the Ministry."

"We'll see about that." She muttered. Speaking up, "Besides lying, what could I have done?"

"Danced around the question. Make them think you were considering it." Alisa suggested.

"That wouldn't work. Not the way Celia wants to play the game." Tabby said before Celia could answer. "She wants to be powerful, but in the right way. The official way. She's totally in denial about the whole 'never getting near the Ministry' thing, but hey, I think that's cool." Tabby smiled and plopped down next to her in a very un-Slytherin way. "Anyway," Tabby continued, "Celia couldn't have danced around the question, because, duh, anything but a flat out no would have been taken as a yes, and it would have spread all over the school. She'd be completely screwed for ever changing her reputation and her nice new friend I saw her with before the sorting would probably run for the hills. Nice pick, that one. Rose Weasley can get you places."

"I'm not using her." Celia protested.

"I know you aren't. You don't seem like the type to completely lie to someone's face; for all that I've known you for ten minutes." Tabby did her weirdly genuine smile again.

"So you see, I had no choice." Celia turned back to the other two.

"I understand." Alisa said before wandering over to her bed.

"You may be right about that, but their still going to ruin your life." Tanisha said. "Don't blame me if I can't talk to you tomorrow. I'm staying on their good side." She pulled the curtains around the bed.

"Well goodnight Celia. I'll probably still talk to you in the morning. I don't care much about the pug twins." Tabby said, moving to the bed next to Celia's.

"You better not let them hear you call them that." Tanisha called from behind the curtain.

"I'll try not to." Tabby called back, closing her curtains as she winked at Celia.

Celia closed her own curtains, then lied down in thought. _Interesting, _she decided, _is the only way to describe today._


	6. September 1st, 2017: Gryffindor Tower

**A/N: I finally have a beta! This chapter goes out to the best beta I've ever had (and only ) : Everybody-knows55! Now I'm going to try to update soon, but for now sit back and enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Everything but my OC's belongs to J.K. Rowling**

**September 1****st****, 2017: Gryffindor Tower**

Rose Weasley walked into Gryffindor common room with a sense of excitement. Finally, she was going to see what she had heard about oh so many times.

It didn't disappoint. The place looked exactly as it had been described, armchairs and all.

There was the customary welcoming speech, given by a prefect who introduced himself as Carl Canning. He had listed all the Gryffindor qualities, but she had grown up hearing them, so she tuned out. As for the rules he gave, well, she planned on ignoring most of them.

At the end of the speech, Carl told them all to go to their dormitories. Rose tried to hurry along with the other first years, but too late, her family was beckoning. She tried not to look disappointed as she walked over to them.

Her family had taken over a large, coveted spot by the fireplace. Rose wondered how they had gotten it since they had been some of the last to enter the tower. She realized, though, that it must be part of the privilege of being a Weasley, and therefore famous. Like she cared.

"There you are Rose!" Roxanne, a second year like James, and George's daughter, cried. "I was wondering where you were"

"I was listening to the prefect's speech, Roxy" Rose rolled her eyes.

"Plan on paying any attention to it?" Roxy asked.

"Hell no!" Rose exclaimed and the two started laughing.

"Hey, head girl in the room!" Victoire announced. "Don't disregard prefects in front of me. I don't want to report you"

"Chill, Vic. You know that guy Carl's weird" James said.

"How's he weird?" Rose asked. She hadn't noticed anything strange about him, except a fondness for the rules.

"He's dating a Ravenclaw" James told her, as if that were a bad thing.

"Is that wrong?" she asked, not believing her cousin was bigoted like that.

"Not wrong…just different. Weird" he said.

"I know some Ravenclaws" Rose said, not exactly sure why she was reacting like this.

"Where would meet any Ravenclaws? It's your first day" Roxy asked.

"On the train" Rose said simply, now wishing she had dropped the subject. She didn't want her family anywhere near her new friends.

"Oh yeah, you didn't sit with us" Albus had wandered over from the other first years. "Why not?"

"Because you lot were getting on my last nerve" she gave them all pointed glances.

"How did we possibly do that?" James said, the picture of innocence.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe by turning my hair blue?" Rose said sarcastically.

"Hey, that was an accident! I didn't know what the spell was going to do" Al protested.

"Oh, shut it. You're just lucky I knew how to fix it or I'd be really mad by now" Rose glared at her cousins. She had stormed off into the loo after they did that, wasting the better part of an hour trying to fix it. By the time she was done, all the compartments were full. This, of course, had led to her meeting Scorpius, Eric, Celia, and Lisa.

"So who'd you end up sitting with?" Roxy asked again.

Rose sighed inwardly. She had hoped the talk of blue hair would have changed the subject. Now she had two choices: lie or tell the truth. Since she hated lying, of course, she picked truth. She was definitely leaving out Scorpius though.

"Oh, just this guy Eric, and these girls Lisa and Celia…" she trailed off, being deliberately vague. She almost thought it had worked until she saw recognition on James' face.

"Not the Death Eater Spawn!" James cried, with a look of disbelief.

"Oh, Rosie, I feel so sorry for you" Roxy's look was one of pity.

"How could you sit with them?" Al's look was of disgust.

"They're perfectly okay people!" she protested.

"They've got her brainwashed" James told Al in horror.

"No they don't!" Rose's protest was ignored.

"One of those bastards must have Imperiused her" Al agreed.

"We have to get her to the Hospital Wing" James nodded.

"What are you doing?" Rose ripped her arms away as they tried to grab her.

"It'll be okay, Rosie. We're going to get you out from under the control of those slimy evil gits."

"They're not evil!" Rose yelled.

"Of course they are!" James yelled back.

"Ever think you could be wrong?!" She spun around and stormed up the stairs, seething.

She slammed the door to her room and turned around. Only then did she notice that three other girls were in the room and that they were staring at her.

"Oh, hello. Um, I'm Rose Weasley" Rose introduced herself, feeling quite awkward.

As soon as they heard who she was, their looks brightened. _Great_, Rose groaned silently, _they all know who I am._

One of the girls, an Asian looking girl, jumped up from her bed to greet Rose. "I know who you are. You're famous. I'm Menki Cha. That's Patricia Pawn" Menki indicated a pink chubby blonde, "and that's Jen Anders" She pointed to a skinny brunette. "We were just talking about the weird Sortings today."

"What weird Sortings?" Rose asked.

"Um, you know, the ones with the Death Eater Spawn" Menki said with a 'duh' look.

"Only one of them got into Slytherin" Jen said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I pity the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs" Patricia chimed in.

"They must have Charmed the Hat. It's the only way" Menki decided and the others were quick to agree. She turned to look at Rose.

"Honestly, these people are not just different than everyone else. They got Sorted where they were because that's where they belong" Rose rolled her eyes. Why did no one else realize this?

"Um, okay," Menki gave Rose a look that showed that she thought Rose was mental. Rose couldn't care less.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed" Rose closed her curtains and cut off the outside world. She needed to process. Today, her protective naïve bubble had finally popped. She was already very different from the girl who had stepped on the train that morning. It was exhausting, annoying, and a bit scary. But mostly exhausting. She went out like a light the minute her head hit the pillow.


	7. September 2nd, 2017: Great Hall

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for your reviews and my awesome beta: Everybody-knows55!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs. JKR owns the rest. **

**September 2****nd****, 2017**

**Great Hall**

Rose gazed around the Great Hall as she ate breakfast. If anyone asked, she would say she was awed by the whole place. It wasn't a complete lie; the Hall was pretty impressive and it was only her second time in it. But she was actually looking for her friends, the ones that everyone seemed to disapprove of.

This morning she had lain in bed awake for a few hours while she decided what she was going to do. She had immediately decided that she was definitely going to remain friends. They were, of course, wonderful people. The question was, however, how she was going to do that. Much as she hated secrets, she arrived at the conclusion that that was the only real way to do it.

She wasn't ashamed of them, far from it, but she felt the need to protect them from her family. And if the girls in her dorm were any indication, they didn't need any more crap piled on what they were already getting.

But of course, she had to tell them that. And to do that, she needed to find them.

First, she noticed Lisa at the Hufflepuff table. She was sitting at the end closest to the teachers and no one was sitting near her, although one girl kept glancing at her apologetically. _And I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to be accepting, _Rose thought. She tried to make eye contact with Lisa.

When Lisa looked back, Rose could immediately tell she had been crying. This made her angry, enough that she wanted to scream at all of Hufflepuff, possibly at the whole school. Fortunately, she remembered in time that it would only make things worse.

She tried to tell Lisa silently, _I'm still your friend. Are you still mine? _Lisa nodded back. Rose pointed discretely at the door and Lisa nodded, her eyes saying, _I'll get the others. _

Rose stood up and excused herself from the table. She didn't even think her family noticed she left (she had only sat with them because she had nowhere else to.) She strode toward the door, a smile on her face.

-------

Lisa was glad that Rose had decided to still be friends with her. Surprised actually. She hadn't been expecting it. She left before she started crying again, this time from happiness. She knew it was never a good thing to show weakness in front of people who hated her.

Lisa distracted herself from that line of thought while she turned to locate the others. She saw Scorpius and Eric first, at the table next to hers. They were sitting together with everyone giving them plenty of space. There was a group of boys glaring at them. Lisa wondered what they had done. She caught their eyes and looked at the door. Being Ravenclaws, they understood immediately and started for it. They stopped by the Slytherin table on their way out to grab Celia.

_Celia was luckier than the rest of us_, Lisa thought without resentment. Celia actually had someone to sit with, a rather animated looking girl with short brown hair. The rest of the table was giving Celia weird looks though, so perhaps she wasn't so lucky.

Lisa shrugged and left the room, trying to ignore the stares and whispers as she went.

-------

"So glad to see that Tanisha was right," Celia said sarcastically.

"Don't let her hear that. You'll enlarge her ego to the point of explosion," Tabby whispered. "And aren't you glad I'm still talking to you?"

"I have mixed feelings on that."

"Celia, that hurt. I'm being so nice and you say that…" Tabby said, obviously pretending.

"Oh shut it," Celia nudged Tabby.

"Hey, I see your friends from Ravenclaw approaching," Tabby pointed out Scorpius and Eric.

"Don't look at me. I don't know why they're coming," Celia told Tabby. Tabby didn't have a chance to comment though, because the boys were there.

"Hello, Celia," Scorpius said.

"Who's your friend?" Eric put in, eyeing Tabby.

"This is Tabby. Now what do you want?" Celia wanted to separate Tabby and Eric. They were very similar people and she nearly shuddered at the thought of the mischief they'd get up to.

"We're meeting Lisa and Rose out in the Entrance Hall. Come on," Scorpius answered, clearly realizing the threat of the combined forces of Eric and Tabby. He dragged Eric away.

Celia turned to Tabby, and told her, "Stay away from Eric. Please. And I'll see you later."

"Have fun!" Tabby waved as Celia left the Hall.

---------------

Scorpius scanned the apparently empty Entrance Hall for a minute before he noticed Rose under the staircase. He made sure he had Eric with him and that Celia was following them before he started heading for it though.

"Good idea, hiding under here. No one will bother us," He remarked once he reached Rose and Lisa.

"I just thought we might need a little privacy," Rose explained. "Is Celia coming?" she asked.

"I'm here," Celia announced as she arrived. "Nice meeting place," she commented.

"So what do you want to tell us?" Eric asked. "I want to go find out some more about Celia's friend."

"Absolutely not," Celia commanded.

Instead of protesting, like Scorpius expected, Eric pouted. "You ruin my fun."

"I'm trying to hold the castle together in one piece," Celia retorted. "Pay attention to Rose. You asked her a question," Celia changed the subject.

"Okay, I'm still your friend," Rose began.

"Duh. You love us to much to lose us," Eric interrupted. Scorpius rolled his eyes. Celia smacked him, lightly if you asked her (but not if you asked him.)

"Well, anyway, I don't care at all what people say, and I'm not ashamed of you guys in any way, but-" Rose rambled.

"Spit it out!" Eric interrupted again. Celia smacked him (again.)

"I think we should keep it a secret," she said quickly.

"Why? If you're not ashamed or anything," Celia inquired.

"I'm not!" Rose protested. "It's just that it would be easier for you –"

"Oh, it's a case of chivalrous Gryffindor then," Eric rolled his eyes. "She's worried about us."

"We can deal with it. We already do," Scorpius told Rose. She started to speak and he held up a hand. "So it gets a bit worse," he shrugged. "We can handle it."

"I've got almost all of Slytherin ignoring my existence. Anything your family can dish out will be small in comparison."

Eric stared at Celia. "How'd you manage that?"

"I managed to tick off the twin prefects, Vadim and Viola, the rulers of Slytherin." Celia rolled her eyes. "It was a no win situation and this will work better for me in the long run. And I saw those boys glaring at you and Scorpius. What did _you_ do?" Celia asked.

"I simply told them that we were not our parents and that I had no reason to hate them." Eric looked up at her innocently. "What did you think?"

"He's leaving out the part where he threatened them," Scorpius commented.

"I _warned_ them not to mess with us. And it was in your defence," Eric retorted.

"Whatever" Scorpius conceded.

"So we don't need our friendship to be a secret." Celia turned back to Rose.

"I guess not," Rose admitted. On the inside, she was burning with rage at the injustice that her friends were facing, and she didn't even know what had happened with Lisa… she had the sense not to ask though. She was also careful not to let any of this show through because it wouldn't help anyone.

"Good." Celia nodded.

"But…" Rose added, realizing something.

"There's always a 'but'," Eric groaned.

"We don't have to keep this secret, but perhaps 'quiet'. You may not care what my family does to you, but it would defeat the point if they were going to stop me from hanging out with you lot," Rose pointed out.

"Fine," Celia agreed. "I think the bell will ring soon. We'd best get ready." And with that, Celia left.

"I'll see you soon, Rose. You have Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws I think. I'll save you a seat," Scorpius told her as he dragged Eric with him. He told the other boy, "We don't want to be late and wind up sitting next to one of those prejudiced idiots, do we?" when Eric protested.

"What's your first class, Lisa?" Rose asked the quiet girl.

"Herbology. You're in it," Lisa pointed out.

"Oh yeah. Let's go then." The two girls were halfway across the grounds when Rose remembered that Lisa hadn't talked much when they were meeting.

"Are you okay with keeping our friendship quiet?" Rose had to be sure.

"Oh ,yes," Lisa responded. "I didn't say anything because I thought it was obvious. I'm glad to have friends at all, I don't really mind."

"I thought you were friends with Scorpius, Eric, and Celia before though." Rose asked, confused.

"It was more like acquaintances. I didn't get out much. I knew them, of course, but I didn't have the chance to hang out with them much." Lisa shrugged and let the conversation fade away. Rose wanted to ask more, but she had a feeling that it would be unwise. Lisa would talk when she wanted to. Anyway, the two had arrived at the Herbology greenhouse and, Rose saw Professor Longbottom was gazing down at them with a curious look on his face. If Rose didn't know him any better, she would have said it was disdain, but surely, Uncle Neville was above that…

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. I am pretty sure the next chapter will take place over their Christmas break.**


	8. December 18, 2017: Christmas Break part1

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! **

**Disclaimer: Everything but my OCs and the plot belongs to the Awesome JKR!**

**Thanks to my awesome beta Everybody-knows55! You rock!**

**December 18, 2017**

"Are you sure you're going to be alright staying here alone?" Rose asked Lisa, concern in her eyes.

"I won't be the only one staying here," Lisa pointed out.

"You know what I mean." Rose rolled her eyes. "No one from our group will be here but you."

"Rose, the train will be leaving soon. If you want us to get a compartment with room for you, we've got to go!" Scorpius rushed over to the girls, who were standing at the gate to Hogsmeade. Scorpius, Rose, Celia, and Eric would be going home for the Christmas Hols. Lisa would not be.

"I'm just going to miss you." Rose hugged Lisa while Scorpius looked a bit impatient. He knew, as did everyone, that once Rose got sentimental it was hard to get her to stop. Unless, of course, you got her angry. In which case, you had a whole new set of problems.

"Lisa will be fine, won't you Lisa?" Scorpius asked.

"Yep. It'll be nice having my dorm room to myself." Lisa smiled. She was genuinely glad that she didn't have to go home. She mentally thanked whoever had arranged for her father to be away for Christmas.

"Still, spending Christmas alone…" Rose pulled away, looking concerned again.

"Rose, she won't be alone! She's not the only one staying here, she's probably told you that." Scorpius tugged on Rose's arm. "You'll see her in two weeks. We've got to go Rose!"

"I'll be okay. Now go with Scorpius before the train leaves," Lisa told her friend.

"Alright. Bye, Lisa!" Rose gave in and allowed herself to be pulled away by Scorpius, although she soon was pulling him.

"I'll miss you as well, Lisa!" Scorpius called as they rounded the bend in the path to the train.

Lisa sighed. She was glad to be here, and not at home, for Christmas, but she had wished that someone from her group had stayed as well. But she wasn't going to make anyone feel bad by mentioning it.

She knew she had done the right thing, because if she had told Rose that, Rose would have stayed here with her. That would have brought the wrath of Ron Weasley on her, which was definitely not a good thing.

Lisa turned and began strolling along the grounds, looking for something to do. It was quite cold out, although it had not snowed yet. Lisa shivered and wondered if it would be safe to go inside, if every one of her tormentors had boarded the Express.

Despite Hufflepuff's reputation for being accepting, no one from it had accepted her. Instead, they teased her, stole her things, and tripped her in the halls. It was quite shocking how mean Hufflepuff could be. She supposed that as Hufflepuffs were known for protecting their own, they were protecting their own from her. Problem was, Lisa was a Hufflepuff.

The other houses ignored her, probably because they could see what Hufflepuff was doing. So outside of her group, Lisa had no friends. Celia was friends with Tabby, who Lisa thought was nice, if a little (a lot) too strong. Scorpius and Eric had no friends in their house, but they did have each other. Rose did not have real friendships with her dorm mates, but she did hang out with them from time to time, to make her family happy.

Lisa didn't begrudge her friends their other friendships, but she did wish that she had someone to talk to in her house. The girls in her dorm all openly hated her, except for one, Alexis Smith. Alex didn't join in with the other girls, although she made no move to talk to Lisa. Lisa had been right when guessed that Alex wouldn't talk to her after the other girls' warning.

It was late by the time Lisa finally entered the Hufflepuff common room, muttering 'mistletoe' to the painting. She entered her dorm with every intention of going straight to sleep.

"Oh, I didn't know you would be here…" A voice said from behind. Lisa turned and saw…

Alexis Smith.

**December 18, 2017: Hogwarts Express**

Rose slid into the compartment and locked the door behind her. She proceeded to plop down in the seat next to Scorpius, who was in the middle of a chess game against Eric.

"Took you long enough," Scorpius muttered as he watched Eric move his Bishop.

"My cousins weren't letting me go," she complained. "I had to set free about fifty chocolate frogs as a distraction."

Celia raised an eyebrow. "How did you manage that?"

"Well, I kind of knocked over the basket on the trolley and they all burst out," Rose said, blushing a bit.

"And this was your intended plan?" Eric asked.

"Well, yeah…"

"No, it wasn't," Scorpius said confidently. "You intended to distract them with food then slip out unnoticed. But you tripped and knocked over the basket."

"You know me too well." Rose shoved him lightly.

"You flatter me. I only knew the first part as you told me your plan earlier. As for the tripping, anyone with eyes could have figured that out. You do trip quite a lot."

"No I don't!" Rose protested.

"Yes you do. And you know it." Celia settled the argument.

"We don't care much about it though." Eric shrugged.

"It does come in handy for distractions," Scorpius teased.

"Shut it!" Rose yelled at the others, blushing furiously.

**A little while later…**

"So what do you usually do for Christmas?" Eric asked.

"Well," Celia looked up from the game of chess that she was playing (and losing) against Rose, "My dad will buy a few presents and the like for me and my mum. I give them something. My mum will actually pay some attention to both of us and give us each a present, usually something neither of us wants. She doesn't really know us much. My dad will complain about how far our family has slipped in the world and once he gets drunk he'll start talking about the riches he had when he was younger." She said this in a completely matter-of-fact tone, not giving away how she felt about it.

Of course, Rose had to ask how she felt.

"It's okay. I'm used to it. She rather resents my dad for how she's treated but she was the one who got married to him. She did it to spite her parents, I think. Nevertheless, she's too proud to divorce him or anything like that. My dad cares about me in his own way. He's mad at himself because my childhood wasn't like his, surrounded by money. He doesn't really see that I'm glad I didn't have his childhood." Celia explained and looked away so her eyes wouldn't betray any emotion.

Eric saw that Rose was going to prod again and interrupted, saying, "Yours is better than mine, Celia."

Now everyone looked at him and he felt compelled to explain. "My father's in Azkaban, thank Merlin. My mum hates me because she blames me for that. So nothing really happens for me on Christmas. We just ignore each other like always."

"Um, that's terrible," Rose said, breaking what had rapidly become an awkward silence.

"I'm used to it." Eric shrugged, but unlike with Celia, they could see he really wasn't. His tone told them to let him be though, so, for the moment, they did.

"Well, my Christmas is a quiet one, though much better than either of yours. Maybe next year you can come with me." Scorpius changed the subject. "My mum cooks and we decorate a tree and all that stuff. We don't have much money but we still give each other a few gifts. It's nice."

They all looked at Rose, obviously showing that it was her turn. She blushed a bit.

"My family has a very loud big Christmas. Everyone gathers at the Burrow, you see. Everyone: the Granger-Weasleys, the Weasley-Potters, the Delacour-Weasleys, and everyone else related to the Weasleys. And Grandmum Molly fusses over everyone and the kids (plus Uncle George) have snowball fights. Grandma Molly makes all of us sweaters and we listen to her favorite singer on the radio, who's horrid. It's quite crazy," Rose told them all. She felt embarrassed, that she had all this and they didn't.

The others exchanged looks and they said as one, "That sounds horrible."

**A few hours later…**

"I'm going to miss you guys," Rose told her friends as the Express got closer and closer to King's Cross.

"We know!" They all chimed back.

"You've told us that at least five times," Eric added.

"Well it's true," Rose said defensively.

"We know." Scorpius stepped in before a fight started. "We'll miss you as well."

"I know."

"And we'll be back together in two weeks," Celia pointed out. "So let's save all this 'miss you' stuff for the summer hols."

"Good idea," they all agreed.

**A/N: This is only the first part of the Christmas break chapters. I have a bit of writers block on the second part but I didn't want you all to have to wait forever for the new chapter so I posted this one. Was it good? Review!**


	9. December 19, 2017: Christmas Break part2

**December 19, 2017: Lisa's Dorm**

Lisa opened her eyes to an already bright room. This surprised her as she usually woke up before dawn so she could leave (escape) her dorm before the others woke. She had an alarm spell she cast every night – oh, she remembered, she forgot to cast it with the shock of Alexis being here.

She pulled on her robes behind her curtain. She had planned to spend the day in the room but if Alex was here…well, she didn't really want to deal with another tormentor. She would hide in the library. She did that quite often now, spending as much time in there as any Ravenclaw. Of course, she didn't really read many of the Ravenclaw-ish books. Mostly she read romance or fluffy stories. They made her feel better about herself.

However, her new plans for the day were stopped again when she opened up the curtains.

Alexis was sitting on her bed and was staring at the door. She was glaring at it, actually. The door had a huge sign on it. The sign read:

**Lockdown Notice**

**As declared by Headmistress McGonagall**

**On the date of December 19, 2017**

**Until further notice, students are required to remain in their ****dormitories****. A problem has arisen and it is being dealt with presently. Meals will be sent up via house elf ****in the event that the Great Hall remains off limits for a longer period than anticipated.**

**It would be unwise to try to exit the ****dormitory****. Do not attempt it. **

"We're on lockdown," Alex said.

"I know."

A few minutes of awkward silence passed.

"So…do you know why we're on lockdown?" Lisa ventured a question. She wanted to keep talking to this girl, who had stood up for here on that first night and had ignored her ever since.

"Yep," Alex said.

"Would you tell me?" Lisa asked when Alex gave no indication of saying more.

"Okay." Alex nodded. "A lot of WWW fireworks went off, apparently 'by accident'" Alex used air quotes, "They think it was a gift for someone staying here."

"Really? I don't hear anything."

"They put Silencing Charms on all the dorms so we can't hear anything. But if you pay attention you can feel the vibrations the big explosions are causing."

"How do you even know all this?"

"I heard the teachers talking as they put up the Charms for our dorm. It was informative." Alex smiled. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I was awake and they were talking really loud."

"It's like they think we're deaf or something." Lisa had observed this of the teachers.

"Probably because most of us students never listen in class," Alex pointed out and Lisa had to laugh. Alex joined in. But slowly the laughs faded into awkward silence again.

Lisa sighed and returned to her bed. Alex probably had only talked to her because she had no one else to converse with. And she wouldn't now that she remembered that Lisa was 'death eater spawn'.

_Why would anyone want to talk to you? _A voice inside her head taunted. _Celia, Eric, and Scorpius only put up with you because they're in the same boat as you. Rose is doing it to rebel against her parents, _whispered the evil voice, _No one really likes you. Why would they? _

Lisa found herself almost agreeing with the voice before she caught herself and forced those thoughts away. _It's not true, it's not true, it's not true…_

To distract herself from the silence in the dorm, and the evil voice in her head, she pulled out her Charms homework and began to practice the Colour Change Charm. She had to turn the gray eraser pink.

"Mutare rosa volo," she whispered waving her wand over the eraser. Nothing. It was as gray as ever.

"Is that Charms?" Alex asked from her bed.

Lisa was confused. Why was Alex speaking to her, the 'death eater spawn'? She had made clear what she thought. Still, Lisa was going to be polite and answer the question.

"Yes."

"Do you know how to make it work?" Alex said.

"Uh…no, not really." Lisa replied. Then she decided she'd make the best of someone talking to her while it lasted and added, "Do you?"

"No." Alex made a face at her own eraser, which was still gray. "What colour is yours supposed to be?"

"Pink. You?"

"Blue," Alex sighed. "I'm horrible at Charms. I don't know why Flitwick gave me such a hard colour."

"Tell me about it. Pink is really hard too. It's practically the opposite of gray."

"Why'd he give the hard ones to the students who suck at the class?" Alex moaned. "I heard he gave _purple_ to Kevin Leon! He was complaining about it in the common room."

"It must be his way of trying to get us to work harder," Lisa said, then immediately wished she hadn't. If she disagreed with Alex, she might not want to talk to her anymore!

Alex didn't seem to feel this way. She kept on talking. "I guess." She just shrugged. "I don't like it. It really makes no sense. He gave the easy ones to the good students."

"Yeah," Lisa agreed. "He gave _white _to one of my friends. And he's a _Ravenclaw_!"

"That proves it," Alex said, as she quietly moved over to sit next to Lisa. Lisa didn't even notice it till she felt someone sit down. "He's lost his mind."

"He is like 90 something," Lisa agreed, still startled that Alex had actually sat next to her.

Alex picked up on this and asked, "Is this okay? I could move back…"

"No, it's okay!" Lisa reassured her. She didn't want to mess this up!

"Are you sure?" Alex prodded.

"I'm just a bit confused, that's all," Lisa said before she could catch herself. Seeing Alex's look of confusion and knowing that she had already messed things up, she explained, "It's just…you've ignored me all first term and now you're suddenly talking to me…"

Alex didn't look at all angry or insulted like Lisa had thought she'd be. Instead, Alex looked sad, regretful…

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" Lisa's shock was plain.

"For ignoring you." At Lisa's confusion, Alex continued, "I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay." Lisa tried to make Alex feel better. Inside she was still confused. Why was someone apologizing to her? No one had ever done that before.

"No it's not!" Alex looked angry. "You're a person, like everyone else. I shouldn't have treated you like that."

"Everyone else does," Lisa pointed out. She wanted to stop talking about it. It hurt, admitting the truth. Why did Alex bring it up?

"It's still wrong!" Alex's eyes were losing the anger now, being replaced by shame.

"Well if you knew it was wrong, why'd you do it?" Lisa asked, angry at Alex now, for bringing it up.

"I'm sorry," Alex said simply, shamefaced.

"Why did you ignore me? I know you stood up for me the first night! Why'd you change your mind? Why are you changing it again? Why?" All the pent up questions rushed out of Lisa now. She wished they could go back to discussing Charms homework. She wished she could disappear. But if she did, she would never know the answers. And she had to know.

"I knew you were awake," Alex whispered. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you ignored me!" Lisa shouted, even though every instinct she had told her to be calm and quiet and leave the problem alone in hope of it fixing itself. She wanted to crawl under her bed. But she wanted answers more.

"Fair enough." Alex was angry no longer. Suddenly, neither was Lisa, as she finally registered how ashamed Alex was of herself. She felt guilty that she yelled now. Alex said, "I never had many friends. Actually, I never had any friends. I wanted here to be different. So when I saw that being your friend would kill my chances of other friends, I panicked. I was wrong and I feel terrible about that."

"I understand." Lisa knew what it was like to have no friends. Celia, Scorpius, and Eric weren't always there.

"So I ignored you to be friends with the others. I kept feeling guilty though, because I knew they were wrong."

"How? You never spoke to me before."

"I just knew. You never did anything wrong." Alex gave Lisa a look. "You aren't evil because of who your parents were. That makes no sense."

"Doesn't matter." Lisa shrugged. She didn't like it when people brought it up. She tried to accept her lot in life, and she sometimes succeeded at it. And then someone like Rose or Alex would talk about how it's wrong and terrible and then she was back at square one.

"Yes, it does."

"People will believe what they believe and no one can do anything about it," Lisa said. "Nothing will change. When the break's over and everyone comes back, you'll go back to ignoring me. You shouldn't give up your friends."

"I'm going to," Alex protested. "I never liked them much."

"You shouldn't. Everyone will hate you."

"You said it didn't matter."

"That's for me! Not you!" Lisa protested.

"Why doesn't it matter for you and it does for me?" Alex raised an eyebrow, teasing now.

"You have a choice!" Lisa doesn't want anyone to be put through this if they don't have too.

"I choose to be friends with you," Alex said and smiled, adding, "Now let's work on that Charms homework."

"We'll see how you feel when the break is over," Lisa mumbled, giving up. She knew Alex would probably change her mind. That should have been a good thing, but secretly her heart sank at the thought.

**December 25, 2017**

At the Christmas feast, Alex sat with Lisa, as she'd been doing for every meal since the lockdown. Lisa's doubts were slowly dissipating and she wasn't protesting Alex's friendship as much.

"Look at what I got!" Alex bragged, showing off the chess set she got from a wizard cracker. "It's brand new too!"

Lisa was glad Alex had got it, because she'd got less presents than Lisa got. That was saying something as Lisa had only had four; one from each of her friends.

Alex had just got some candy and a Galleon, from one of the workers at the orphanage she was from. Yet Alex hadn't seemed sad at all.

"Let's go play it!" Alex said as soon as the feast was over and the two were in front of the fire in the common room. Lisa smiled, glad that she finally had a friend in her own house.


	10. March 9, 2018: Greenhouse

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything but my OCs and the plot.**

**Thanks to my awesome beta Everybody-knows55! You rock!**

**March 9, 2018: Hogwarts Greenhouse**

"Um, sir?" A quiet voice began from behind Neville Longbottom. He sighed, as he had just started working on pruning a rare plant and hated being interrupted. He turned around to face the annoyance.

It was the Goyle girl. Why was he not surprised? She was no doubt going to try to make his life as miserable as her father had before her. Sure, she seemed harmless and shy, but surely, it was an act. It was a good one, good enough to fool the Hat into placing her in Hufflepuff, good enough to fool Rose Weasley into befriending her.

That still made absolutely no sense to Neville. Why would Rose hang around with those, those, those death eater spawn? Why? Had they out a spell on her, had they given her a potion? In his mind, he knew that they hadn't but his heart, that was a different thing.

"Sir?" The Goyle girl asked, her voice trembling. Yes, he thought, it was a good act.

"What do you want, Goyle?" He answered harshly, perhaps too harshly as the girl started shaking. _Remember, _he told himself, _it is an act._

"I- I just wanted- just wanted to- to give you my assignment, s-sir," the girl trembled.

"What?" Neville asked in surprise, "That assignment wasn't due until next week."

"I finished it early," the Goyle girl answered in what would have been pride if she hadn't still been shaking.

Neville paused for a moment there, trying to remember if had ever seen her father shaking the way she was now. It was almost as if, almost as if she were _sincere_. _No, it has to be an act!_

"How could you have finished it? How is it possible that you made the Bowby bush settle and pick one colour in only two days? The normal time is more than a week, which is why I set the due date then!" He himself had been the only one to finish early when he was a first year…but he stopped his thoughts from going down that road.

"It wasn't all that hard. All the bush wanted was its branches untangled and its leaves straightened. Then I had a talk with it and I could sense it wanted a colour but it couldn't decide so I showed him my favourite color. It quite liked purple as well and picked that one, as you can see." The tremble was out of the Goyle girl's voice now leaving only the pride as she showed off the still, purple Bowby bush.

Neville stared in shock. Young Bowby bushes quivered and shook when approached and constantly changed colours. Their leaves, used in some colour potions, were no good until the bushes were calm and only one colour. It normally took a first year a long time to calm the bush and here this Goyle had it done in only two days! And he had given her (randomly, he told himself) the youngest, most nervous bush of all.

"Did I do the assignment right?" The girl asked, made nervous by Neville's silence.

"Yes. Yes you did." Neville had to admit it, much as he hated it. He wished this girl was not the daughter of his old tormentor because otherwise he might like her. _It's an ACT! _He reminded himself. Then another voice inside his head said, _And what if it's not?_ Neville silenced that other voice immediately. It **had** to be an act.

"Can you take it now, sir?" The girl offered up the purple bush to him.

"Why don't you wait until it's due? Keep it calm until then." Neville told himself he was being fair to the other students. He secretly hoped that it would be messed up before next week.

The girl's face fell. Neville noticed something – was she crying? _Very good act, _he thought. But the other voice was back, _It's not an act! She's really crying! Fix it. _This time Neville (almost involuntarily) listened to that other voice.

He knelt down and looked the girl in the eyes. "What's wrong?"

"N-n-nothing sir."

"Tell me."

"It's just – just- if I bring – bring the bush back," the girl managed to say, "my-my dorm mates they'll- they'll – mess it up."

"I'm sure if that happens, I'll still give you a passing grade. I did see it in perfect condition today." Neville hoped that this attempt would placate the girl and the other inner voice. They both were annoying him.

Instead, the girl kept on crying.

"Why are you still upset? I said I'll pass you!"

"But- but-the poor- bush," The girl sobbed, "it'll- it will –will – get hurt! They might even k-ki-kill it!"

If Neville had thought he couldn't be any more surprised, he was proven wrong. A _Goyle_ caring about whether a plant got hurt? Now he had seen everything. He was so shocked, he said, "Okay. I'll take it now."

The girl looked up with happy surprise on her face. She hadn't been expecting him to do it. "Thank you! Thank you, sir!" She smiled – then ran as if she was afraid he'd change his mind.

_It has to be an act, _he tried to get himself to believe it again. The other inner voice just laughed and said, _It's not, and you know it._

**A/n: How was it? The idea just came to me and I had to write it! **


	11. June 6, 2018: The Dorms

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs and the plot. JKR owns the rest.**

**Thanks to my awesome beta everybody-knows55!**

**June 6, 2018**

**Lisa's Dorm**

"Thanks for getting them to let me in, Alex," Lisa told her friend as she packed her trunk. "I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get in and get my things."

"No problem. They just had to be reminded that I know some of their secrets from back when I was friends with them. Not that I was going to actually do anything with them." Alex leaned on the bedpost, rolling her eyes. "They should know me better. I _did _hang out with them for three months, not to mention that I'm a Hufflepuff."

"I do think that was a bit mean though," Lisa said as she reached under her bed for some runaway socks, "They looked upset."

"Lisa," Alex gave her a look, "they've been horrid to you all year and to me since January. They deserved it."

"I guess. I just understand why they wouldn't want their secrets told. _I _wouldn't want mine, and neither would you. They had no way of knowing you were faking."

A strange look passed over Alex's face when Lisa mentioned her secrets, but it passed before Lisa noticed it. "Fine. It may have been a bit mean but they _deserved _it."

"I think I'm done now. Do you see anything I missed?" Lisa stood up from the trunk and glanced around the room.

Alex looked as well, as she knew that anything of Lisa's left in the open would probably be destroyed. She didn't see anything though so she returned her gaze to Lisa's trunk. It was in poor condition, even worse than her own trunk (Alex's had been used by many of the orphanage's former charges). The trunk was only half-filled with all of Lisa's things in it: worn and torn robes, a few casual clothes (mostly gifts from Celia and Rose), used textbooks, and not much else. Alex at least had a few personal things in hers: a picture of her parents (always hidden) and a worn copy of her favourite book.

"I think I got everything, then," Lisa said, breaking Alex from her thoughts. "If they don't let me in again, I'll sleep in the common room, probably. If that happens, could you bring my trunk down tomorrow?"

"They wouldn't dare," Alex growled. Lisa was used to this and just gave her a look.

"Yeah, they would. They've done it before, they'll do it again. So will you?"

Alex gave an angry sigh and nodded.

"I'm going to go see the group. Do you want to come?" Lisa said as she walked toward the door, 'the group' referring to Rose, Scorpius, Celia, and Eric.

"No thanks. I'd be intruding on your special thing." Alex had noticed, as had Tabby, that the five had that 'thing' between them, that indefinable thing that made the best friendships. The Marauders had had it, the Golden Trio still had it, and the 'group' had it.

"We don't have a 'special thing'." Of course, no one from the group could see that they had 'it'.

"No one will mind, Alex. You've hung out with us before," Lisa continued. After everyone had gotten over the whole 'ignoring Lisa for three months' thing, Alex had made friends with the others. She and Rose had particularly hit it off, bonding over the whole injustice thing.

"No, you go. I've got to finish packing anyway." Alex gestured to all of her clothes that were still strewn around the room. "We'll hang later."

As Lisa left the room, Alex called from behind, "You know, if they won't let you in, I think I'll join you for a slumber party in the common room!"

Lisa just grinned.

**Celia's Dorm**

Of course, Celia was already finished packing. Her trunk was filled with neatly folded robes, matching pairs of rolled socks and alphabetized textbooks.

It was for this reason that she was grinning as she watched Tabby run around panicking as she tried to pack.

"You shouldn't have left it this late. I told you–"

"If you finish that sentence, I will never talk to you again," Tabby interrupted, as she began to search behind her bed.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Celia teased.

Tabby's only response was to glare.

The door opened and Alisa and Tanisha walked in.

"Oh, is she still tearing apart the room?" Tanisha rolled her eyes, though she carefully avoided looking at Celia.

The pug twins (Celia had started using Tabby's name for Vadim and Viola) had kept up their ban on Celia, and Tanisha being who she was still followed it. Celia knew though that Tanisha really didn't believe it, as she would talk to Celia in the dorm though she tried to avoid looking at her. (Tanisha thought that the twins had ways to know what went on in the dorms.)

Alisa didn't take it that far. She didn't openly talk with Celia as Tabby did, but she would chat and gossip when they were alone and she would study with them.

"What is she even looking for?" Alisa asked Celia.

"I don't even know," she admitted. "Hey, Tabby!" She called to the girl under the bed.

"Ow!" Tabby banged her head as she tried to get out from under her bed. "What do you want, Celia?" She rubbed her head, annoyed.

"Alisa wanted to know what you're looking for."

"My wand." She glared at the others as the burst out laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"It's….just…wand," Celia managed to choke out while laughing.

"Spit it out!" Tabby cried.

"It's in…your…."

"Where!"

"Hair!" Alisa burst out. "It's in your HAIR!" The girls collapsed into laughter again.

Tabby had styled her hair into a messy bun this morning and had complained about the lack of styling sticks to hold it. She had improvised…

Her face turned red as she reached behind her head and felt her wand holding her bun in place. "Oh…well, problem solved then…"

"Well, as amusing as this has been," Celia started as she stood up from her bed, "I have to go meet with the group. Want to come, Tabby?"

"Nope," Tabby muttered, still looking away from the others, "You're going to tell everyone about this and I don't want to listen to more laughing at my expense." Celia rolled her eyes. Tabby always tried to get sympathy by acting hurt, though she obviously wasn't.

"Anyway," Tabby continued, "I have to finish packing."

"Is that what you call packing? Throwing all your things and some of ours into your trunk in no order at all and then slamming it shut?"

"Yes. Now leave with your hurtful criticism before I throw this heavy History of Magic textbook at you," she threatened, lifting up said textbook.

"I will then. And that's my textbook," Celia pointed out.

"I'll make sure she only packs her things." Alisa stepped in before a fight between the two friends started. Celia smiled at the look of fake outrage on Tabby's face and left the room.

She just heard, "Alisa, I'm hurt that you would even suggest…" before the door slammed shut.

**Scorpius and Eric **

Scorpius muttered the locking charm over his packed trunk as Eric did the same on his. Hopefully, it would stop their dorm mates from ruining their possessions.

"Let's go before they get back from lunch," Scorpius said.

"I think you should just let me hex that Will. It's the last day of the school year. What can they do?"

"Professor Flitwick would just give you detention for next year. And probably ban you from the end of year feast," Scorpius pointed out. Eric gave up in the face of this logic, and then brightened.

"I'll get him on the train!" Eric smiled at this thought.

"How will you find him?"

"Must you rain on my parade?" Eric glared at his friend.

"That's my job," Scorpius replied cheerfully.

"To ruin my fun?"

"No. To keep you from carrying out your stupid ideas. For a Ravenclaw, you seem to have a lot of them."

"My ideas are not stupid!" Eric protested, "They are just feared by a world that is not ready for their brilliance!"

"Right."

"Shut it!"

"Let's just go find the others, O Brilliant One. I bet we're late."

"And whose fault is that?" Eric asked sarcastically.

"Yours actually. You took forever looking at that picture of Carey Collins," Scorpius pointed out.

"Shut it!"

**Rose's Dorm**

Rose looked at her watch impatiently. It was nearly time for her to go hang out with the group and she was stuck here pretending to pack so her family wouldn't be able to grab her. They had been getting better at that, mainly because James had stolen the Marauders Map over Christmas Break.

She really needed to find the Room of Requirement next year so she could hang out with her friends without her family charging in, grabbing her away, and tormenting her friends. It was a huge pain.

The only one who wasn't actually taking part in this was Victoire. She told James that she was busy with Head Girl duties, though Rose could tell that Victoire didn't really approve of what the rest of the family was doing. She didn't count on Victoire doing anything though as Vic had a _very _strong self-preservation instinct and nothing was more harmful than going against the Weasley family. Luckily, Rose didn't have that instinct.

Rose took out her To Do list and added something to it. The list read:

_Things to do before second year_

_Steal Map from James_

_Find out Room of Requirement location from Uncle George_

_Find a way to meet up with group at least once_

_Try to get Teddy to meet group_

_Get Teddy to get Victoire to meet group_

She peeked out the door to see if Roxy and James were still waiting in the common room. They were.

_I guess it's time to work on #1, _Rose thought as she opened her window. She made sure she had her wand ready and secure. Then she climbed out on the outside ledge that circled the tower.

_Don't look down, don't look down…_Rose thought as she carefully edged her way over to the open window of the second year boy's dorm. Thankfully it was empty, as everyone was probably still at lunch. She climbed in and went over to James's trunk. She didn't even have to search long, as it was in the first place she looked: the secret compartment in the lid of his trunk. She rolled her eyes, because everyone in the family knew about that compartment as James kept bragging about it. Git.

So now, she had it, the Marauders Map. With an "I solemnly swear I am up to no good" the map appeared and showed Scorpius and Eric waiting under the tree, Lisa walking across the grounds toward it, and Celia walking through the halls. It also showed James and Albus in the common room and Roxy walking up to Rose' dorm. Looked like she had gotten out just in time.

She made sure the room looked exactly the same as it did before and climbed out the window and onto the ledge again. This was not the first time that Rose had done this and she thought she probably wasn't the only one who did it, though she was almost certainly the only first year. The roof of the castle was actually a great place to hang out because no one bothered you up there. No teachers, so there was no one to catch you after you were supposed to be in bed and no ghosts or Peeves either. She wished her friends would join her up there but Lisa and Scorpius would never be able to do it and Celia and Lisa weren't in the towers anyway. And Eric…well, Rose had enough sense not to mention it to him.

She walked over to the edge of the roof, near the astronomy tower. On one side of the tower, nearly hidden by ivy, was the opening to a slide that would carry a student all the way to the grounds, charmed so no one would get hurt. Rose jumped, in hoping that she wouldn't be the last one there so they wouldn't tease her about her tardiness as well as her supposed clumsiness.

_There's no way I'm clumsy! I can make it all the way around a narrow ledge that's at least nine stories high. So not clumsy! _Rose thought as she made her way toward the tree.

And then she tripped.


	12. June 6, 2018: The Grounds

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything but my OCs and the plot. **

**Thanks to my awesome beta Everybody-knows55! **

**A/N: It might be a while before the next chapter so enjoy this one!**

**June 6, 2018: Hogwarts Grounds**

Scorpius and Eric were the first ones there. Eric threw a scathing look at Scorpius.

"Late, huh?"

"Hey! We are late! Everyone else is just later than we are." Scorpius lifted his watch up to prove his point.

"Well…shut it!" Eric decided this was a good enough comeback, so he sat down and began ripping the grass from the ground.

"Hagrid will be mad at you for that."

"Hagrid is _always _mad at me. At you as well for that matter."

"It's that Death Eater spawn thing. I'm just glad we don't have to take his class till third year, if at all." Scorpius lay down and looked up at the clouds.

"You got that right. I don't understand why Rose keeps on insisting that Hagrid is a great guy."

"Rose is a Weasley. Hagrid has been around her family since before she was born." Scorpius gave Eric a 'duh' look. "He's probably perfectly nice to Rose."

Before Eric started another argument about this, Lisa showed up.

"Am I late?" she asked, a bit nervously.

"You're earlier than Celia and Rose," Eric told her.

"Grab some grass." Scorpius patted the ground next to him.

"I was packing with Alex and it took a while because first Alex had to get the other girls to let me in," Lisa said as she sat down.

"That sucks. Do they lock you out a lot?" Scorpius asked.

"Sometimes, when they think Alex isn't around. It's usually when she's in the Hospital Wing."

"My dorm mates do that too, when Eric is in the Hospital Wing," Scorpius replied.

"So every week then." Celia sat down next to Eric.

"I don't get in the Hospital Wing every week Celia," Eric protested, "Despite all the times you slap me."

"I slap you because you are an idiot and you usually deserve it."

"I am in Ravenclaw," Eric pointed out.

"For reasons unknown to anyone," Celia retorted.

Lisa jumped in before a fight could start. "So why were you late Celia?"

"I was watching one of the most amusing things I've seen all year."

"What?" Scorpius asked.

"Tabby was tearing apart our dorm looking for something. I didn't know what it was. So when Alisa asked, Tabby replied 'My wand'. We all (except for Tabby) burst into laughter. I tried to tell her where her wand was but I was laughing too hard. Alisa bursts out, 'HAIR!' because it was in her hair holding up her bun."

Lisa and Scorpius started laughing. Eric looked blank and said, "I don't get it." Celia slapped him.

"Hey, where's Rose?" Celia asked.

"Late as always. Probably trying to get away from her family."

"Isn't she always?" Eric complained. "She never has time for us." Celia slapped him.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

"I'll stop when you stop being an insensitive idiot." Celia turned up her nose.

"Hey, isn't that Rose?" Scorpius pointed to a redheaded girl who'd tripped. "How'd she wind up over there?"

"My guess is she tripped," Eric said, rubbing his bruised arm.

"No, I mean how'd she get over by that wall without us seeing her? She'd have to walk past us to get there."

"Why don't we ask her?" Lisa said.

The four watched as Rose got up and strode over.

"Not a word," she warned them all.

"About what? How you were late _again _or tripped _again_?" Eric teased. This time both Rose and Celia slapped him.

"STOP THAT!"

"Oh, shut it." Celia shot him a look.

"Actually, we wanted to know how you got all the way to that wall without us seeing you." Scorpius changed the subject.

"Oh, just took a secret passage…" Rose tried to tell them without giving away her secret.

"I didn't know there was a passage that ended there. Where does it start?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"…The roof…" She mumbled.

"Did you just say the roof?" Scorpius repeated incredulously.

"Yeah," she said. Then she whispered to him, "Thanks so much for letting Eric hear you. Now he'll want to come too."

The realization of what he had just done came over Scorpius, leaving him with a look of horror. "Merlin, what have I _done?_" he whispered.

Eric was bombarding Rose with questions. "How'd you get up there? You don't have a broom. How? When did you find out? Why did you tell me?"

Rose couldn't take it anymore. She had to answer him. "Fine, I'll tell you!"

Eric smiled gleefully.

"But you can only go up there if you get someone to come with you." Rose smiled. Eric's face fell. He looked at his friends. Lisa would never go. Scorpius…probably not. Celia…possible.

"Why do you think I'll listen to you?" Eric challenged her.

"Because I'll tell you how to get on the roof. But I won't tell you how to get off of it until you get someone to come with you." Rose had him.

"Fine. Just tell me how you got on there then. I still want to know," he pouted.

"Alright, then. I found out about the roof by listening to some seventh years talking. And I tried it out for the first time the day we went swimming in the lake and my family had me barricaded in my room. All's I have to do is climb onto the ledge outside my window, walk around till it meets the roof and drop down onto the roof."

"How would I do it?" Eric asked.

"No clue. You're a Ravenclaw. Figure it out yourself." Rose shrugged. She knew that the longer Eric could be kept off the roof, the longer disaster could be diverted.

"Fine," he sulked.

Rose turned to the others, and with sudden remembrance, said, "Guess what? I can't believe I almost forgot!"

"What?" Celia said.

"I climbed into James's dorm and grabbed this!" She showed them the Map and beamed.

"Is this what I think it is?" Scorpius studied the map in wonder.

"The Marauder's Map?" Eric's expression was eager.

"Yep. And no, you can't use it Eric."

"You ruin my fun."

"I'm trying to keep the school in one piece."

"Is this how you repay me for helping you study with Transfiguration?" Eric complained.

"Oh please. Those notes were mostly mine," Celia pointed out.

"I let you use my History of Magic notes!" Eric protested.

"Those were mine," Scorpius reminded him.

"Oh yeah…well I helped you all get through the stress with my charming personality!" Eric smiled.

"Whatever you want to believe…" Rose muttered.

"Thanks for helping me through Potions though, Rose." Celia turned to the redhead. "Can't believe I passed."

"Same here," Lisa added. "You saved me from melting another cauldron."

"Well, you helped me with Herbology. We're even," Rose pointed out.

"You are truly brilliant in that class, Lisa," Celia complimented.

Lisa blushed, "It's nothing. I just like spending time in gardens."

"I love spending time in the gardens near my house," Scorpius said. "Especially now that it's summer."

"I can't believe it's summer." Celia ran her hand through the grass.

"I can't believe we leave tomorrow." Rose spoke the thought that they were all thinking.

"I don't want to leave," Lisa said and fell silent. She wanted to say more, but she just couldn't.

"Me neither," Eric told the others. "I'll miss you; even you Miss slaps-a-lot."

"I'll miss you too, despite your idiocy," Celia replied.

"Thanks…HEY!" Eric said as he realized what she had said.

"I'm definitely going to miss you. I doubt I'll last the summer with my dad," Rose predicted.

"Well, you're all invited to drop by my place anytime. I asked my dad." Scorpius looked over at Rose. "You think your dad will let you come?"

She snorted. "Definitely not. If I asked, he'd lock me in my room for the entire summer. He might do it anyway. Speaking of which, if you don't hear from me all summer, it's because he's taken away my owl privileges."

"Well, if we don't hear from you, we'll just have to rescue you. I got a broom from my aunt for Christmas; I'll fly over and get you," Eric said.

"Not if I do it first." Celia stuck her tongue out at Eric.

"We won't let you forget us," Scorpius told her. "We'll send owls every day."

"Please don't." Rose looked sad. "If my dad finds out how close we are, the result would be catastrophic."

"You don't want us to owl you?" Lisa looked crestfallen.

"No!" Rose was quick to reassure. "I just meant to owl me only once a week and at night, so he doesn't find out. I'd die of boredom if I didn't hear from you all summer."

"I guess we can do that. Only at night?" Celia spoke for the others.

"Please."

"Let's talk about something else." Eric tried to change the subject to something lighter. "How about how awesome I am?"

Celia, Rose, AND Scorpius slapped him. Lisa only refrained because she couldn't find room.

"Stop it!" Eric protested. The others laughed. Eventually, he did too.

The hours passed by swiftly. There were laughs, Eric being slapped, more "I'll miss you's, and more talks about how they didn't want to go home. They very nearly missed the end-of-term feast and only remembered it when Rose had to dash off before her family came looking for her. Lisa went inside to hang out with and say goodbye to Alex. Celia went to spend time with Tabby.

Scorpius looked over at Eric. "Do you want to go to the feast?"

"Nah. Do you?"

"Not one bit. Kitchens?"

"Kitchens." Eric agreed, and the two Ravenclaw boys went to go beg food from the house elves.

**A/N: So they're first year is over. There'll be a chapter at King's Cross, a few taking place over the summer and then: SECOND YEAR! A lot's going to happen in the groups second year. A lot. So stick with me and keep reviewing and you'll get to see it all happen. Remember the amount of reviews I get is directly proportional to the speed at which I update. Review! **


	13. June 7, 2018: King's Cross

**A/N: This is a special chapter. It's from Draco Malfoy's POV. Enjoy!**

**Thanks to my awesome beta Everybody-knows55!**

**Also, I want everyone to know that I put a poll on my profile about which story people like most. I'll be focusing the most on whichever one wins. So vote! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JKR does. I only own my OCs and the plot.**

**June 7, 2018: King's Cross**

Draco Malfoy strolled into the station. Anyone watching him might have thought that the man with the pointed chin didn't have a care in the world. They would have been wrong.

On the inside, Draco felt so nervous and terrified only years of practice at keeping a calm face kept his emotions from breaking through. He always felt like this when he entered into any place filled with wizards. He knew the reactions to his face, to his name. He expected them. But he was never used to them. Each revolted look, every insult, each death glare, was a stab to the heart. It was even worse though, as he knew he deserved them all.

He had hoped when he and his mother had escaped Azkaban, though his father had not, that at least if the wizarding world could not forgive him for his crimes, that eventually they would start to forget. No one had.

What was worse, though, was that the hatred had spread to his wife, to his child. They had done nothing wrong. Astoria had only married him, of her own will. Scorpius just had the misfortune of being born a Malfoy.

He had given up on trying to live any life inside the wizarding world. He had moved to an out of the way cottage in the country and worked as a bookstore owner in a Muggle town. He was all but living as a Muggle now.

The only reason at all he had come back to the wizarding world was so his son could go to Hogwarts. He had considered other schools for Scorpius, but the Ministry had forbidden anyone related to a Death Eater from leaving the country. Hogwarts was the only option. And Scorpius had begged to go.

From what Scorpius had told him, at Christmas and through his letters, he had made the right choice in sending Scorpius there. He had friends, not many, but he still had them. Not lackeys as Draco himself had had, but actual friends. Draco actually smiled a tiny amount at the thought, as he passed through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾.

The train hadn't yet arrived so Draco took a seat on a bench that was mostly hidden by a display for some event. Hopefully, no one would notice him and he would be able to collect his son in peace.

As he waited for the Express to arrive, he thought of what Scorpius had told him. Apparently, once his son had arrived on the train, he had sought out an empty compartment. Scorpius had written in a letter that no one had wanted to sit with him so it had remained empty until a group of other children of Death Eaters had sat down.

The only contact Draco had had with the wizarding world was the occasional visits to the other families that were treated like his. The Nott's were the ones that he visited most often, because it seemed the best environment to bring Scorpius into. He often wondered if one day something would happen between his son and Celia Nott. He didn't visit the Avery family often, if you could call it that. Gordia Avery despised her son Eric. Eric stopped by the cottage often though, so he and Scorpius knew each other well. Draco had visited Goyle and his family even less than the Avery's; despite the fact that Goyle was the closest thing he had to a friend during his school days.

Gregory Goyle was a lay about and a drunk. He lived off of Muggle welfare checks. He hadn't started out this way, after the war. He had tried to work a Muggle job when Draco had suggested it and he had gone through with an arranged marriage to a girl named Nell. Nell was a quick-tempered girl who was annoyed very easily. She was not as ugly as Goyle was himself, though it was close. She stuck around long enough to give birth to their daughter, and then she left him. That's when Draco had seen Goyle fall apart. He felt terrible for the child but there wasn't a thing he could do. No one cared about a Death Eater's child. Draco had met Lisa a handful of times. She seemed shy and quiet, as different from Goyle as she could be.

Draco was glad his son had become friends with the girl. From what Scorpius had told him, the Hufflepuffs were tormenting her. Hufflepuffs! Scorpius had befriended Eric Avery and Celia Nott as well. But the thing that shocked him the most was that he was friends with _Rose Weasley_.

When he had read that letter back in September, his jaw had literally dropped. Not even the surprise of Scorpius landing in Ravenclaw had done that. The way Scorpius had told the story, 'Rose fell into our compartment, though we didn't know who she was and she didn't know who we were then. Lisa invited her to stay because she needed someplace to sit. Anyway, after an exploding snap game of epic proportions (we tied) we introduced ourselves. She stared into space for five minutes, and then introduced herself. Then we began exchanging the stories our families told about each other. They were all surprised when I said that you never said anything bad about the Weasleys. Then Rose said she'd stay and we became friends.'

Draco had not been upset; he'd actually been quite happy. Finally, things were starting to change. He didn't really expect the friendship to last, though. He was pleasantly surprised when the letters kept mentioning Rose, and the fun things their group did together.

Draco wanted to meet this Rose, so he could see for himself this Weasley who was friends with his son. He doubted he would get the chance, at least in the near future. Weasley wouldn't let his daughter get anywhere near Draco. Perhaps in a few years, if Rose made the choice to stick with her friends instead of with her family. Weasley would most likely do anything to stop what his daughter was doing.

Draco stood up as he heard the train approach. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible. The steam hid his face as he walked toward the Express.

In the distance, he saw a group of five children emerge laughing and saying their goodbyes. Draco smiled. Among them was Scorpius.

His smile faltered as he noticed the death glare of the tall, red-haired man standing behind the children. Weasley.

**A/n: How did you like this insight into Draco's thoughts? Should I do more of them? Please review and tell me what you think!**


	14. August 14, 2018: Diagon Alley

**August 14, 2018: Diagon Alley**

Rose slipped away from her parents as soon as she had the chance. As it was, she was able to get away fairly soon after her father was entranced by some new toy at WWW. She made her way through the crowded streets to the ice cream shop, Fortescue's. Slipping into an empty chair, she smiled.

"That didn't take as long as you thought it would," Scorpius smirked.

"It's nice to see you again too," Rose said, still smiling. After a long summer of being forbidden to see any of her friends, it was good to finally have a chance to. "Where are the others?"

"They left me to hold them a table while they shopped. We didn't think you'd get away so soon," Scorpius pouted.

"Okay. When do you think they'll get here?"

"Right now." The voice of Celia called from behind them. She was walking over with Eric and Lisa.

"It's about time," Scorpius teased. "Even Rose got here before you guys."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose protested.

"You're always late," Eric commented.

"Lisa, is that true?"

"Well…you're not always late…sometimes you're on time." Lisa tried to reassure Rose.

"Thanks. Well I beat you guys this time, so ha!" Rose bragged.

"Not really. Did Scorpius tell you that we had been waiting for half an hour before we ditched him?" Eric laughed.

"No." Her eyes narrowed.

"Hey, you still showed up about an hour before I expected," Scorpius defended.

"Fine," Rose sniffed. "Since you lot all seem to think I'm late all the time, I guess I'll be late to give you your presents. You'll have to wait till we're on the train. Except for you Lisa." She tossed a small, brown package to Lisa.

Opening the parcel, Lisa's eyes widened. "Wow, Rose! A ticket to see the Wiz Sis's on August 20th!" She squeaked with joy. "These are supposed to be sold out! And these are decent seats too. How did you get it?"

"I got two front row seats for my birthday." Rose shrugged as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"But these aren't front row. They're fourth." Lisa said in confusion.

"Well, I traded in the two front row tickets for six fourth row tickets. One for each of us," Rose smiled, showing three more identical packages. "But as _some_ people said I was late, you will all get your presents on September 1st."

"But the concert will be over then!" Eric pointed out.

"You see my point." Rose smiled.

"A plan worthy of a Slytherin, my friend," Celia complemented.

"Nice try, Celia. If you want the tickets now, you'll have to beg," Rose teased.

"Wait, Rose, why did you get six tickets? There's only five of us," Scorpius asked, ignoring what she had said about begging.

"Scorpius, I'm twelve. My parents are _not_ going to let me see a concert with my friends without any adult supervision," Rose said in a 'duh' voice.

"And about that, Rose, your parents would never let you see a concert with us. Why the sudden change?" Eric eyed her, knowing something was up.

"Oh, alright! They gave me the tickets with strict instructions to not invite any of you guys along!" Rose admitted.

"Ah, look at our Rosie. All grown up and breaking the rules," Eric teased.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Scorpius said in mock shock.

"I've broken rules before. You know I'm breaking them every time I hang out with you," Rose pointed out.

"But you never _ever_ disobey a direct order. He hasn't actually banned you from us yet, has he?" Eric raised his eyebrow.

"Not yet."

"But you never break the rules outright, Rose. You wouldn't even sneak over to my house. We have a _waterfall _behind the cottage," Scorpius said.

"But I'm not breaking the rules. Not technically," Rose smiled, "Because these aren't the same tickets they gave me. So I doesn't count, right?"

"Looking for loopholes. Are you sure the hat didn't want to put you in Slytherin?" Celia teased.

"Hey, Rose," Lisa began, "If your parents don't know you switched tickets, and they don't want us to come, and you need adult supervision, who's going to provide it?"

"I'm asking Teddy. He's out of school and he's pretty good at not judging people without evidence. And if he says no, I'll ask Victorie. And if she says no, I'll have to sneak out," Rose explained.

"Victorie's your Veela cousin?" Scorpius asked, an odd look on his face.

"Yes," Rose answered tersely not understanding why this bothered her.

"I hope she comes," Eric commented.

"Well, if either of you want to see anyone, you'd best start begging. You too Celia. So far I'm only taking Lisa." Rose smiled. This would be entertaining.

"So how's your summer been?" Rose asked as she walked through the alley with Scorpius. The streets were busy enough that no one noticed a Weasley and a Malfoy walking together, and the two were careful not to go anywhere near WWW. Lisa, Celia, and Eric had all left a little bit ago, for various reasons.

"Boring." Scorpius shrugged as he dodged a shopper carrying around twenty bags. "Yours?"

"Infuriating."

"Your parents?" Scorpius said, more of a statement than a question.

"Duh." She swerved around a cart full of potions.

"What did they do?"

"They denied me a bloody rite of passage!" Rose told him, her volume increasing.

Scorpius remained annoyingly calm. "How'd they do that?"

"Every kid in my entire bloody family gets an owl on their twelfth birthday. I turn twelve, and look, no owl!" Rose ranted, gesturing wildly. She almost smacked a man in his face.

"Watch what you're doing with your hands!" Scorpius pulled them down and pinned her arms to her side. "You hit someone while I'm around, you can bet I'll somehow be blamed!"

"That's just not fair!" Rose ranted some more.

Scorpius groaned, knowing he would not hear the end of her ranting for at least four hours. He wondered why he hadn't left with the others.

"Bet they knew this was going to happen," he mumbled. (Luckily Rose was too busy going on about injustice to hear him)_. _This was bound to happen, if you were around Rose and other people. He should know this by now. But he did. _He had known this would happen, and he had stayed anyway_. Why was he such a good person? He sighed and tried (unsuccessfully) to steer the conversation (ranting) to something other than discrimination.


	15. August 20, 2018: Concert

**A/N: Thanks for all the great reveiws. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. I'd like to thank my beta, Everybody-knows55. You rock! Anyway, the next update might be a while because I have serious writers block on all of second year. I had something planned but I'm pretty sure I'll have it happen later. Ideas are always welcome. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything but my OCs and the plot.**

**August 20, 2018: Concert**

"Remind me again why I'm going to this concert with you instead of staying with my beautiful girlfriend," Teddy complained as Rose dragged him through Diagon Alley. Teddy Lupin was twenty, tall, tan, and had his trademark turquoise hair.

"Because I know that you told James how to get the Marauder's Map, and Uncle Harry will explode if he finds out." Rose smirked up at him.

"It's not like he wasn't going to give it to James anyway," Teddy scoffed. "He'll go even more mental when he finds out James lost it."

Rose just smiled.

"But you would know all about that, wouldn't you? Cause you were the one who stole it." Teddy rolled his eyes at her surprised look. "Yeah, I know about that. You're not the only one in this family who notices things. Are you sure the hat didn't want you in Slytherin?"

From anyone else in her family, that would have been an insult. From Teddy, it didn't mean anything. His grandmother had been in Slytherin after all. Teddy was very open-minded. He'd have to be. He was a Metamorphmagus with a dead werewolf for a father.

"No, Teddy, for the last time, the hat told me I was a Gryffindor." Rose rolled her own eyes.

"Well then, Miss Gryffindor, could you tell me why you made sure I was the one to take you to this concert?"

"Because you're my favourite cousin?" she said innocently.

"Just tell me. Before I make you."

Rose sighed and then searched the crowds in front of them. They had reached the stadium at the end of the Alley. It looked like a normal, if slightly large, building on the outside. On the inside, it was nearly as big as the World Cup stadium.

Rose brightened, waved, and then dragged Teddy over to a group of people. When they reached them, Rose told him, "That's why."

Of course, by then, Teddy already understood. She'd invited her friends. On the inside, his jaw dropped.

On the outside, though, Teddy didn't falter. He didn't stare, or gape, or shout. It came from years of control, and months of training for his chosen career. He calmly shook each of their hands while he processed things.

Obviously, Rose had gone behind her dad's back. He had wondered why the tickets were for the fourth row. She must have trusted him to not freak out. While Teddy didn't share the blind hate for any and all Death Eater spawn that most of his family had, it was still a shock to see the children of the people who he had heard horror stories about.

Rose didn't glaze over anything. She introduced all of them without even trying to hide the last names.

"This is Celia Nott," Rose told him as he shook hands with a platinum blond girl with a fierce glint in her eyes. She had a firm handshake. "She's in Slytherin," Rose continued.

"Pleasure to meet you," Celia said, and Teddy actually thought she was sincere.

"This is Eric Avery," Rose said as he moved on to shake a boy with a mischievous, carefree look to him. "He's a Ravenclaw."

"I don't suppose she told you we'd be coming," Eric smiled.

Before he could reply he was shaking a chubby girl's hand. Unlike the other two, she was looking down, not meeting his eyes. "This is Lisa Goyle. She's in Hufflepuff."

Teddy reached the last boy and he knew immediately who he was. Rose introduced him anyway. "And this is Scorpius Malfoy. He's in Ravenclaw." The Malfoy boy stared at him. It wasn't defiant like Celia's had been, or teasing like Eric's. The Mal- err, Scorpius, looked at him like he was curious.

"What?" Teddy demanded.

"Oh, nothing. It's just a bit weird. Did you know that we are cousins? My grandmother was sisters with yours." Scorpius continued to look over Teddy.

"I never really thought about it." Teddy knew that his grandmum had been a Black, and that Narcissa Malfoy had been a Black, but he had never really realized that it made him cousins to 'Death Eater spawn.'

"We don't look much alike," Scorpius remarked.

"I take after my Mum." Teddy changed his hair from turquoise to pink to fire engine red and back to turquoise again.

"That's cool."

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Eric broke the ice.

"Come on! We don't want to miss the show!" he yelled. The others were happy to follow him, and to leave the awkwardness behind.

"We would already be in there if _some_ people showed up on time," Celia teased Rose.

"Not my fault this time! Teddy took forever to leave the house. And you weren't even where we agreed to meet," Rose shot back.

"Eric over here wanted to grab some ice cream." Celia rolled her eyes.

"Sellout!" he cried. "And I was getting it for Lisa! She said she was hungry."

"Then why did you come back with a sky stacked cone for you?"

"I got hungry in the queue! It was really long. People kept cutting in front of me." He glanced back at Rose to make sure she didn't hear that last comment. He did not want to get her started on injustice tonight. Luckily, she had been watching Teddy talk with Scorpius.

"So what's it like to be…you know?" Teddy asked.

"It's my life. It's unfair and it sucks, but no one ever said life was fair." Scorpius glanced at Rose. "We deal with it. There are a lot of things we can't do. We can't leave the country without notifying the Ministry in advance, for one. And we'll probably never get good jobs. Celia over there," he nodded towards her, "She wants to be Minister of Magic. She'd be amazing at it too. But I know none of us will ever get anywhere in the Ministry."

"That's terrible."

"That's just the basics. I mean, the discrimination," Scorpius shook his head, unable to find words, "I really can't describe it. No one can, not unless they've lived through it. Rose tries, you know. She gets really passionate about this. She's all about getting Equality. She'll go on for ages, if you get her started."

"That sounds like her."

"It gets annoying. But it doesn't even affect her, and she still cares. She's wonderful."

"I've dealt with hate too," Teddy said suddenly. "Not to the extent you have. But even though my father was a war hero, some still don't like that he was a werewolf. So they hated me for it. One of my roommates was like that."

"You aren't upset by the fact that you're related to me, are you?" Scorpius asked.

"Not at all," Teddy told him, and Scorpius felt that the words were true. "Who you're related to has nothing to with who you are."

"My thoughts exactly." Scorpius and Teddy shared a smile.

"Oi! Hurry up, or we're going to ditch you!" Rose yelled as she entered the stadium with the others. Teddy and Scorpius ran to catch up.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Did you like Teddy? Did you like the chapter? Review and tell me. Also, I have a question for you. What positions do you think the group would play in quidditch (keeper, seeker, chaser, beater)? By the group, I mean Rose, Scorpius, Lisa, Eric, and Celia. **


	16. September 8, 2018 part 1

**A/N: I am so so so sorry I haven't updated! I was away at camp last week, but I had written and beta-ed long before that. At first the docx wasn't working. It finally worked just before I had to leave. I thought I had posted this but I guess it didn't work. Anyway, I'm sorry.**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything Harry Potter.**

**September 8, 2018: Eric's dorm**

Eric stared out the window and sighed. So far, his second year was not being as awesome as he had hoped it would be. And, even more unfortunately, it was being as terrible as he had expected it to be.

True, the concert had been awesome but they had to sneak around to go to it. It was still cool of Rose to go through all that trouble. He knew she didn't really want to ruin her relationship with her father. Still, the concert had been one of the few good things to happen to him this year.

The situation with his dorm mates was still the same, if not worse. Will had actually chucked Eric's trunk out the bloody window! And no one had made any move of getting it back. He'd had to wait for Rose to find it on the roof and levitate it up to him.

And Rose still hadn't told him how to get on or off the roof! She wouldn't tell him until someone agreed to go with him. Like any of the others would!

He would have flown up there on his broom but he'd never be able to pull it off unseen in the day and his broom was always locked in the shed after dark. He didn't dare try to get it then. He walked on thin ice as it was and he didn't need to be caught after hours. He knew it was almost certain that he would be caught unless he had the Map. Which Rose wouldn't let him use either!

All these things, with a few others, had made for a pretty bad first week back. And the icing on the cake, the cherry on top, the last straw, was that he had been told that he wasn't even allowed to try out for the Quidditch team, that he'd regret it if he did, and that he'd never make it anyway.

Eric normally responded to threats in the same way every time: he got angry and ignored them. But it had been such a bad week that Eric actually listened to the threat. He had been so pissed off that he was past anger, past ignoring. He was actually in a place he had never been before; he was in the realm of common sense. Eric having common sense was a scary thought, so it was lucky for his other friends that they weren't there to witness it. They might have died from shock.

Eric had actually agreed not to try out. Without a fight. And he hadn't been lying.

Eric had known that he would never make it on to the team; he was after all a Ravenclaw and not an idiot. But that hadn't meant that he hadn't hoped he could at least show everyone how good he was in tryouts.

His eyes drifted to the Quidditch pitch and he sighed again. He'd never get to play on that pitch now. He had been so happy when his crazy old aunt (who he heard from about once every few years) had sent him a broom. He didn't care that it was a Cleansweep and clearly used; it was his. He loved flying.

Flying was his escape, like Lisa's was gardening and Scorpius' was books. He was a natural at it, had been ever since he had first flown when he had borrowed Scorpius' broom.

So it wasn't a surprise when he decided to blow off steam by taking his broom for a fly in the early Saturday morning.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me with that potions homework," Celia told Rose as they walked out the library. It was Saturday morning, the first Saturday of the school year, so of course the halls were practically deserted.

"No problem. You helped me with Transfiguration, remember?" Rose reminded her. "Besides, since we did everything so early, we have the rest of the weekend free."

"We do, don't we? What do you want to do?"

"I have no idea. Do you think Lisa is up yet? It isn't too early and she does like to get up before her housemates." Rose glanced towards the hallway that would take them to the Hufflepuff Dormitory.

"No, I doubt she is. She mentioned that she would be working on Charms with Alex last night. They were probably up late. Anyway, we shouldn't go to Hufflepuff to get her. They would never let us in to get her, especially not me." Celia walked Rose past the hallway and set course for the Entrance Hall.

"What about Scorpius or Eric?"

"If Scorpius were awake, he'd have been in the library with us. As for Eric," she snorted.

"You're right. What was I thinking?" Rose rolled her eyes. She glanced towards the sunlight streaming in through the open doors to the grounds and gave Celia a questioning look. Celia nodded and the two girls walked out onto the grounds.

"The day Eric wakes up early on a Saturday morning is the day…"Celia trailed off in amazement.

"Wow." Rose gaped. "It's…"

"Amazing" Celia finished, still gazing at the awesome sight of Eric on his broom.

"Did you know he could fly like that?" Rose asked without tearing her eyes away to look at Celia.

"No. I've never seen him fly. I would have remembered that." She stared as Eric rolled into a backwards dive, stopped inches from the ground, and shot back up into the sky.

"That's not that good of a broom either. It's what, a Cleansweep?"

"Used, too."

"Is he going out for the team? He has to, if he can fly that well!" Rose insisted.

"Probably not" Celia disagreed.

"Why?"

Celia was saved from having to answer by Eric dropping down in front of them.

"How was I?" He smiled in his cocky, self-assured way. "Amazing, I know. You looked like you were about to faint."

"You were okay." Celia shrugged, but the unimpressed effect was ruined by the trace of amazement still in her voice.

"Are you going to try out for the Ravenclaw team?" Rose asked.

"Nope." His smile disappeared as he remembered why he had been flying in the first place.

"Why not? You'd make a brilliant chaser, I bet," Rose continued, oblivious to Eric's reaction.

"You know, I have to go." He turned and walked – no, ran – away.

"What was that about?" Rose looked over to Celia.

"I don't have a clue" Celia told her. But the truth was, she had an inkling of an idea of what Eric was upset about.

"Come on." Rose tugged on Celia's arm.

"What? Where?"

"We have to go after him, don't we?" Rose pointed out.

"Do you know where he is?" Celia gave her a look. "Cause I don't." _Well, not for sure…_

"Oh. Right" Rose said, stumped. "Well, I think I'll go see if Scorpius or Lisa is up. They might know what's up."

"Good plan. I'm going to see if I can find him."

"If you do, tell him that I want to talk to him."

"Will do." Celia agreed and walked away. All the while, she was calculating. It would take Rose anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour to see if Scorpius or Lisa were up, depending on whether they were in their houses. After that, Celia had about ten minutes before Rose remembered she had the Map and could find Eric with it. It would take Rose ten more minutes to get to the Map and then she would have to get to where Eric was. So, if she got this right, Celia had at least forty-five minutes before Rose would get to Eric.

Celia knew that if Rose found Eric before he had gotten calmed down, the results wouldn't be pretty. And she did _not _want to deal with a massive fight in her group. It would be too … distracting from her current goal of getting Slytherin to accept her. It wouldn't happen this year - the pug twins were still too strong. But they would leave next year, and that would give her the chance to overthrow whatever idiot they left in their place. A fight within her group now – well, it just couldn't happen.

Celia had known Eric much longer than Rose had. They hadn't been best friends, far from it (he thought she was annoying and she returned the feeling) but still, she knew him. When Eric was upset, angry, or hiding, he always went somewhere high up. Always. No matter what had happened, he would hide some place high in the sky. She doubted he'd go to Ravenclaw tower, she knew Rose hadn't told him how to get on the roof yet, and the Divination Tower would be locked. So, that just left the secret balcony on the Astronomy Tower.

The balcony was well hidden, but it wasn't the best-kept secret. Everyone had heard about it, whether they believed the rumours or not. People debated whether the room was Godric's, Helga's, or Rowena's addition to the castle. Everyone knew they each had made one secret room, and that the Chamber of Secrets was Salazaar's. Another of these secret rooms was the Room of Requirement, though most of the people who knew about it thought it was either Rowena's or Helga's.

The balcony wasn't as impressive as the other two known secret rooms. It was hidden under the Tower, in an obviously extended space. It was a lover's dream. It had soft cushions, and marble benches and statues, and a fountain. It was like the Mediterranean squished into Hogwarts. It was always warm in the winter and cool in the summer, despite the fact that it was open to the air. And no one had ever fallen out; it was charmed to prevent that.

It was tricky to get into, and rumours told at least thirty different ways to enter. None of them was true. Another charm of the balcony: it was impossible to _tell_ anyone how to get in. You had to _show _them. Among the sixth and seventh years, the balcony would fade in and out of obscurity, depending on how often people got new boyfriends or girlfriends that year. This year, practically everyone over fourteen knew how to get in. Plus the group of second years, who had found out the secret.

Celia smiled to herself as she remembered the day they had found that out, last year, actually. She was the one who had heard those sixth year girls gabbing on about it. She'd told Rose, who then told everyone else. And Scorpius had figured out how to get in. Eric had been the one to try it out, though. It was good that he had volunteered, because anyone else would have died of embarrassment when he walked in on that couple making out. Eric, he'd just laughed.

She reached the painting of Cupid, who was currently shooting his arrows at unsuspecting townsfolk in his painting. She kissed the angel of love and the painting shifted to the side, revealing the door, where the sign read 'occupied'. She went in anyway, because if anything really gross had been going on, the sign would have read 'emergencies only'.

"Hey" she said when she saw Eric swinging his legs over the edge of the balcony. He didn't look up, so she went over and sat next to him.

"They banned you from the team, didn't they?"

"Not just from the team; from even trying _out_." Eric didn't look at her. He just kicked at the wall.

"Not much difference. If they won't let you on the team, why try out?" She reasoned.

"I knew they wouldn't let me play on the team. I'm not an idiot." He threw her a look.

"_Don't _say it."

"Say what?" Celia adopted her innocent tone.

"Whatever cheap shot you were going to take about my intelligence."

"I would never" she said in mock outrage.

"You would so, and you know it." He nudged her and for a minute Celia thought he might laugh. But he didn't and the smile dropped from his face.

"I wanted to try out to show them what they were losing by being idiots" Eric explained. "It's not my fault I was born an Avery, not my fault my dad did horrible things, not my fault that my mother hates me. They're all idiots for thinking it is my fault."

"I agree."

"I don't know how they got into Ravenclaw."

Celia nodded.

"I think you were amazing."

"Really? Not just 'okay'?" He smiled.

"Don't let it inflate your ego." Celia nudged him. "It might explode, it's so big."

"Shut up." He nudged her back.

"Well, anyway, if it makes you feel better, I'm not allowed to try out for Quidditch either" she admitted.

"But you're not as good as me so it's not so much of a loss," Eric observed. She slapped him but lightly, playfully.

"You're lucky, you know," Eric told her after a pause.

"How am I lucky? My entire house hates me except for Tabby. I have the two most powerful people in Slytherin house after me and they'll probably continue to do so even after they leave Hogwarts. I have the rest of the wizarding world hating me because of my parents. And my parents barely qualify as parents." She rolled her eyes. "How is that lucky?"

"You're luckier than I am, at least. Your house doesn't hate you, they're too scared to talk to you. The pug twins aren't after you, at least not yet. They will be after start trying to overthrow them. The rest of the world hates me too; that's why we're even up here, remember? And my home life is a lot worse than yours is."

"Fine, you're right." She rolled her eyes again.

"I've never heard you say that before, Celia."

"Yeah, and you'll never hear it again so savour the moment."

He laughed. Eric was finally acting like himself again.

The silence that fell between them wasn't awkward. It was nice. But Eric, because he was Eric, ruined the moment.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"What do you mean? Here, as in the world? Here, as in why do I exist? I've asked myself that before." She knew what he meant, and she didn't want to answer it.

"No. You know what I mean. Why are you here, on this balcony, right now, with me?" he asked, and it wasn't his normal carefree curiosity that made him ask. He seriously wanted to know.

And, to Celia, a serious question merited a serious answer. Plus, she didn't want to lie to him, because she had a feeling that he would see through that. He was a Ravenclaw, after all.

"Well," she began slowly, "Rose and I decided that one of us should go after you."

"And instead of Rose, who has the map, you had to go."

"I volunteered," Celia corrected.

"She didn't remember about the Map, did she?"

"Nope."

"And you didn't remind her? It would have saved you the trouble of looking for me."

"It wasn't much trouble."

"You can't expect me to believe that this was the first place you looked." He saw the look on her face. "It was? Am I really that predictable?"

When she didn't answer, he asked, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you volunteer to come find me?" He clarified. "Rose is technically the one who got me upset."

"If Rose had come, you two wouldn't be speaking for at least a month. You would have fought over you not even trying to try out. You know it."

"I don't see how that would affect you."

"I don't want a split in the group!" she admitted. "Not now!"

"Why's now so important?" he prodded.

"Because I'm trying to overthrow the pug twins!" she explained before she could catch herself.

"What does that have to do with me and Rose?"

She sighed and decided to go with the truth. "I don't need distractions."

"So you would be distracted by a fight between me and Rose?"

"Yes."

"Ah, Celia, you do care!" He slung an arm around her shoulder. She pushed it off.

"Also, a split would have made me appear weak. I couldn't have that." She stood up and waited for him to do the same.

"Celia, you can't cover up your feelings now. It's too late. You've lost the illusion of being unfeeling forever with me. Accept it," he teased.

"I'm glad you feel better Eric," she began and he beamed. "Because now I don't feel guilty about doing this." She slapped him again, hard this time. She laughed as she walked out of the room even more when she heard Eric call after her.

"OW! Celia, that left a mark!"


	17. September 8, 2018 part 2

**A/N: Sorry, for the super long wait! My beta Everybodyknows-55 is onvacation and has been for a while. She hasn't beta-ed this yet bu I figured you have all waited long enough. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: JKR owns everything but my OC's and the plot. **

**September 8, 2018: Library**

"So it won't bother you if I try out for the Quidditch team?" Alex and Lisa were working on their Charms project together. They had done the essay last night and now it was time to work on the practical part. Ever since that day the two of them had become friends, they had always done Charms together. Neither of them was great at it, but with each other's help, they weren't completely terrible.

"Oh, not at all. I wouldn't have tried out anyway." Lisa said after she succeeded in moving water from one cup to another. "Did it drip this time?"

Alex bent down to check. "Nope! Looks like you got it."

"I hope I can do it again on Monday."

"You will. We've practiced it enough. Now let me try." Alex flicked her wand up and moved it to the side as she said the spell. "Uh! It dripped!"

"You have to swish it more. The faster you move it, the less it drips, I think."

Alex preformed the charm again, and this time it worked. "Thanks for that."

"No problem."

"You really don't care about me trying out?"

"I told you I didn't. You have seen me on a broom before? It's a horrid sight."

"I wouldn't say that…"

"You know it's true. I hate flying. But you're brilliant at it. The only person I've seen better is Eric and you won't have him for competition."

"Why not? If he's good why won't he be on the team?"

"Because he won't be allowed."

"That's terrible." Alex looked at her friend. "It really shouldn't be allowed."

"But it is. After all, who cares about 'death eater spawn'?"

"I do." Alex pulled Lisa into a hug. "I'm your friend and so are Scorpius, Eric, Celia, and Rose. We care."

"I suppose."

"Suppose nothing. It's fact."

Right then, Rose ran up to the pair. She was out of breath, so it was a few minutes before she could speak.

"Lisa…Alex…have you…seen…Eric?" She gasped out.

"Has he been told he can't try out for Quidditch?" Alex asked.

"So that's the reason he ran off!" Rose said.

"It could be." Lisa reasoned. "Have you asked Scorpius?"

"I was looking for him. He's not in Ravenclaw dorm so I thought he may be in the library."

"Well he's not." Alex gave a glance around to confirm this.

"Why don't you use the map to find Scorpius?" Lisa suggested.

"Good idea!" Rose said and she was gone as quickly as she had come.

"Map?" Alex asked in confusion. Then she realized, "She has the Marauder's Map, doesn't she?"

"Oops. That was a secret." Lisa squeaked and covered her mouth.

"I won't tell. I'm good with secrets." Alex promised.

"Normally, so am I." Lisa said. "But I trust you."

"Not many do." Alex was obviously glad at this comment.

"You could say the same for me." Lisa reminded her. The two laughed.

**Rose's Dorm**

"It's here somewhere," Rose muttered to herself as she tore through her trunk searching for the Map.

She threw her hand up in exasperation. "Urgh! Where did the bloody Map go?" She scowled at the chest, as if that would make the Map appear to her. It didn't. She got to her feet and angrily began to stomp out of the room.

But because Rose was Rose, that didn't quite work out. She tripped.

Rose landed hard on her stomach but for once, she didn't curse. From where she lay, she could see the Map quite clearly. It was wedged under the bottom of her mattress.

"I meant to do that." She reassured herself as she grabbed the Map from its hiding place. "_I solemnly swear I am up to no good._" The Map came to life at the touch of her wand, ink spreading over the parchment. She bent over it to search for Scorpius.

He wasn't in Ravenclaw, nor at breakfast. She hadn't missed him in the Library, though she saw that Alex and Lisa were still where she had left them. He wasn't in any of the classrooms. Where was he?

Then she saw his dot on the map and felt really stupid. She blushed, embaressed, though no one was there to witness her blunder. Had he been there all this time? She turned around and looked out the window, where she saw the unmistakable blond by the lake, in plain sight of her all along.

"I am an idiot." She groaned.

"Why is that?" Another unmistakeable voice asked from behind. Roxanne had come to call.

Thankfully, she had shoved the Map in her pocket once she had spotted Scorpius on it. With any luck, Roxy hadn't seen a thing. She forced a smile, hoped it didn't seem too fake, and turned around to face her cousin.

"Hey, Roxy. Didn't notice you were standing there."

"Just popped in for a moment." Roxanne said as she leaned against the door frame. "I wanted to know if you were coming down to breakfast."

"No thanks. I already ate. Another time?" Rose put all her effort into keeping on the fake smile.

"Rose, I don't get you." Roxy shook her head. "You run around with those death eater kids, you never hang out with me or Al or James anymore. Why?"

"I hang out with you guys plenty. I've eaten with you every meal this year except for today. I was with you all summer."

"It's not like it was, Rose. Not like before you met those spawn. What did they do to you?"

"Nothing!" Rose protested, dropping the smile. "Is it so hard to believe that they are people just like you and me? That they are kind and funny and pleasant to be around? Is that so hard?"

"Yes." Roxanne said and didn't explain further.

"Why?" Rose asked, but Roxanne had already left the room.

Rose sighed and faced the window again. Why was her family so bloody stubborn? By the time she had reached the ground by the lake, she had decided that it was because all Weasleys were mental, excluding herself.

"Scorpius!" She called. He looked back surprised.

"Where did you come from?"

"The tower, by way of the roof."

"Of course." He rolled his eyes. "Speaking of the roof, when are you going to tell Eric how to get on it? He keeps whining about it."

"I'll tell him when he gets someone to go with him." Rose replied. "And speaking of Eric, do you have any idea of where he might be?"

Scorpius groaned. "What did you do now?"

"Nothing!" Rose blushed. "I just asked him if he was going out for the Ravenclaw team and he stormed off. Lisa said it might be because he's not allowed on it."

"Lisa was right. They told both of us yesterday. I wasn't all that mad about it – I didn't plan to try out anyway. I'm fair at it, but not great like Eric. He's really upset about it."

"I noticed." Rose sighed. "What should I do?"

"Well, for one," Scorpius paused and eyed Rose warily, as if he was afraid to say something, "You shouldn't try to change anything."

"Why!" Rose gave her expected explosion.

"It's just going to make it worse."

"How?"

"You taking up the cause will draw attention to it. Draw attention to all of us. You don't want your dad butting in, do you?"

Rose had to admit he was right.

"Plus, they would tease him more for having a girl fight his battles." Scorpius added under his breath. Thankfully, Rose didn't hear him, or else he might have ended up in the Hospital Wing. He looked at the map, searching for his friend's name. "He's in the balcony."

Rose jumped up and snatched the map. As she ran off, she yelled, "Thanks!"

"You do know that you could have just looked on the map to find Eric in the first place, right?" He called after her, smirking.

Rose swore and called herself an idiot for the third time that day.

**Secret Balcony**

Eric had just been getting to his feet when Rose burst onto the balcony. Celia had left more than twenty minutes ago, but he had been thinking about a lot of the things she said.

Then, suddenly, Rose was standing in front of him, panting. Sweat poured down her face. She looked as if she had run from one end of the castle to the other several times over. She doubled over and breathed heavily before she was able to speak.

"You …should… make…yourself…easier to find." She breathed out before she straightened up. "I've ran all over Hogwarts looking for you."

"Why didn't you just use the map?"

She looked rather cross and embarrassed at the same time, but she didn't answer him. Instead, she apologized.

"I didn't mean to hurt you by bringing it up, honest. I didn't realize… not until Lisa told me and Scorpius confirmed it."

"I know you wouldn't do that, not ever. I was sore about it."

"But you aren't anymore?" Rose asked surprised that Eric had actually gotten over it this quickly.

"Celia talked to me for a while."

"Oh, so she found you."

"Yeah, and she talked me out of doing anything stupid. She's pretty good at that isn't she?"

"She has lots of practice between you and Tabby."

"True. So do I need Celia to talk _you_ out of anything stupid like storming Ravenclaw Tower or yelling at Flitwick?" Eric's eyes silently pleaded with her not to do either or anything similar.

Sighing, Rose shook her head with regret. "Scorpius already got to me about that. The most I can do is not try out for my team."

"You don't have to do that."

"It's not for you." When Eric rolled his eyes, she admitted, "Well, not entirely. But I won't support a corrupt system."

"You should go in to politics."

"The Ministry?" Rose wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Ew."

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long long wait. Huge writer's block. Is this chapter worth the wait? Or even good at all? I'm not at all sure about the ending, but it was the only thing that came to me. The next update may be a while because I have next to nothing for second year. I have plenty of ideas for the summer but I'd like to have at least one more chapter for second year. Ideas are welcome!**


	18. September 16, 2018: Neville

**A/N: I'm sorry this took so long. And it may not be very good. Right now this is unbetaed until I can find my beta again. **

**Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot and the ocs' are mine. **

**September 16, 2018: Professor Neville's office**

"I know why you called me in here, so why don't we just get right to it." The angry mass of red hair that was Rose stormed into Neville's office. Her performance might have thrown off or angered any other teacher but Neville had known the girl her entire life. He was used to her. He just raised his eyebrows at her as she ranted on. "I'm not joining the Quidditch team! Neither you nor anyone else can make me. So will you stop pestering me about it already?"

"I haven't even said anything." Neville pointed out.

"But you were going to tell me to join the team, weren't you?"

"Maybe not."

Rose just rolled your eyes. "I don't want to join the team."

"But why not?" Neville questioned. "You've always loved Quidditch and you're great at it! There's a spot open for a Chaser, your favorite position. Why won't you even try out?"

"Because I don't want to!" Rose stamped her foot. "Uncle Neville, get that through your head!"

"This is because of those spawn, isn't it?" Neville muttered. Why did such a wonderful girl like Rose hang out with terrible people like them?

"NO!" Rose protested. "This has nothing to do with them!"

Neville ignored her. "So they're mad that they can't play so they force you to not play…"

"That's not it!" Rose's face was turning red with anger. "They don't even want me to do this!"

"Then why?" Neville ignored the last part of her statement.

"Because it's not fair!"

Whatever Neville had thought Rose would say, that was not it. "Huh?"

"People should be accepted or not accepted because of their athletic ability, of their skill. Not because of any prejudice against them. It's not fair and I won't support an unjust system."

"What are you talking about?"

"My friends!"

_Aha! _"I thought this wasn't about them?" Neville felt triumphant. Rose groaned with annoyance.

"Do you even listen?" She focused her eyes on the ceiling as if asking for divine help. "My friends are discriminated against for no reason other than their ancestry. They aren't allowed to try out. I won't try out either."

"So we should just give the spawn spots on the team?" Neville growled.

"No." Rose shook her head. "I just think everyone should get a chance to try out."

"Like any of them are any good." Neville muttered.

"Yes, Eric is actually amazing. Better than anyone, I've ever seen. And they won't even give them a chance."

Neville snorted. "If he's that good then you should be glad that spawn isn't on the team. Show some Gryffindor support."

"Ugh! You are impossible." Rose stormed out of the room.

_You are an idiot. Why can't you ever believe her? _One of his inner voices said.

**Later on September 16, 2018: Greenhouse**

"What are _you_ doing here?" Neville's voice made the girl drop her tweezers in surprise.

"N-nothing, sir." Lisa's voice trembled as she turned to face him. "I was just plucking the withered spikes from the Creeping Pine. If you don't pluck the withered spikes regularly, it develops a rash."

"I know that. I'm the professor of Herbology." Neville said gruffly. On the inside, he was impressed that she cared enough about a plant she wasn't even required to take care of. Of course, he soon reminded himself about who she was.

"I'm almost done, sir. I'll leave as soon as the Pine's okay."

Neville turned, intending to ignore her until she left. Instead, he said, "So you're the one who's gotten Rose to quit Quidditch."

Lisa blushed and started trembling. She didn't look him in the eyes as she replied, "I-I never t-told her to d-do that."

"You weren't jealous of her?"

"N-no. I w-wouldn't have tried a-anyway, sir. I am h-horrid on a broom."

"She mentioned one of you was good on a broom. Did he tell her not to try?"

"Eric is f-fantastic but h-he wouldn't have t-told her to do t-that."

"You expect me to believe she decided to quit on her own?"

Lisa swallowed nervously but met Neville's eyes this time. She laid down the tweezers and spoke without a tremble. "Sir, if you knew Rose at all, you'd know no one can make her do anything. You'd also know that she cares very much about equality." She seemed to loose her nerve and her eyes once again focused on her shoes.

"I've known Rose her entire life!"

Lisa met his eyes again. He saw fear in them but also the desire to defend her friend. It was unnerving. _How can you fake that look? _There was no tremble in Lisa's voice as she forced herself to say, despite her fear, "Then you should know her better, sir." Her eyes flew to the floor again as she backed up toward the door. "The Pine's okay now. I'll be going."

As the door closed, Neville watched the frightened girl run back to the castle, looking over her shoulder several times as if she were afraid that he would chase after her. He considered it, actually. But his inner voice was annoying him to much for him to do anything but glare.

_She's right, you know. About a lot of things. Plus did you see how happy that Pine is? _

Neville sighed and buried his face in his hands. Why was everyone so confusing? Why did everything contradict his beliefs?


End file.
